Books & Reviews

Review Essays

Review Essay,
Sep/Oct
2010
James E. Nickum

Three new books about water agree that the world is facing serious water crises but have very different ideas about how to address them, especially when it comes to deciding what roles the public and private sectors have to play.

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Review Essay,
Sep/Oct
2010
Simon Tay

The Chinese and Indian economies often elicit breathless admiration from commentators. In fact, domestic deficiencies and regional tensions mean that the rise of China and India is hardly assured.

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Review Essay,
Sep/Oct
2010
Mustafa Akyol

In Reset, Stephen Kinzer argues that the United States should partner with Iran and Turkey to promote democracy and combat extremism in the Middle East. Although it is hard to imagine Iran as a friend of Washington, Turkey is ready to play that role.

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Capsule Reviews

Capsule Review,
Sep/Oct
2010
Nicolas van de Walle

Read together, the essays collected here provide a broad and sophisticated survey of the state of democratic politics in Africa. The volume's best general essays contribute both to democratic theory and to public policy, and its 15 country case studies are informative introductions to recent (and woefully underreported) political developments in the region. Almost all African countries moved to multiparty electoral politics in the early 1990s, but only a handful can be unambiguously characterized as democracies today.

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Capsule Review,
Sep/Oct
2010
Nicolas van de Walle

Given Africa's poor economic performance, it is easy to dismiss the region as marginal. In this up-to-date and always readable introduction to Africa's international relations, Taylor argues that, on the contrary, Africa has often played a significant role on the global stage, and he provides many examples of how African leaders are able to manipulate the international system to pursue their own interests.

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Capsule Review,
Sep/Oct
2010
Nicolas van de Walle

Within development circles, conventional wisdom has it that successful manufacturing sectors often develop in low-income countries thanks to identity-based social networks made up of producers working together. These networks are said to generate the social capital that can be used to overcome many of the shortcomings of underdevelopment.

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Foreign Affairs Books

Foreign Affairs Books are collections of seminal essays which first appeared in the pages of Foreign Affairs. Whether policy analysis, reportage or review essay each piece offers lasting value. Collectively these articles frame current debates over crucial issues in American foreign policy and world politics. You can find ordering information for Foreign Affairs Books on the individual book pages listed below.

This collection presents Samuel Huntington's original, seminal essay followed by critical responses published in Foreign Affairs, including the author’s reply to his critics and contemporary additions to the enduring question of how to understand world conflict. In this second edition, fresh contributions make The Clash of Civilizations?: The Debate newly relevant to students of International Relations and Political Science.

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On the morning of September 11, 2001, the United States awoke to find itself at war. If that much was clear, many other things were not — including the identity and nature of the enemy, the location of the battleground, and the strategy and tactics necessary for victory. This collection brings today's most authoritative thinking to bear on these and other issues at the heart of the nation's preeminent security challenge.

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World politics is entering a new phase, in which the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of international conflict will be cultural. Civilizations-the highest cultural groupings of people-are differentiated from each other by religion, history, language and tradition. These divisions are deep and increasing in importance.

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