Recent Addition, May 2017

1. The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia/ by Campbell, Kurt M. 2016
Abstract: This book is about a necessary course correction for American diplomacy, commercial engagement, and military innovation during a time of unrelenting and largely unrewarding conflict. While the United States has intensified its focus on the Asia-Pacific relative to previous administrations, much more remains to be done. The Pivot is about that future. It explores how the United States should construct a strategy that will position it to maneuver across the East and offers a clarion call for cunning, dexterity, and ingenuity in the period ahead for American statecraft in the Asia-Pacific region.
2. Pivotal Countries, Alternate Futures: Scenario Planning for International Politics/ by  Oppenheimer,  Michael. 2016
Abstract: The author explains, figuring out possible outcomes and designing and appropriate policy requires an ability to identify the drivers of change, the potential wild card events, and the central policy questions in any given situation. Once policymakers determine these, they must plan a scenario. To do that, planners need to know how to build the best team of experts possible, run a session, and create credible narratives for different scenario alternatives. To illustrate how it all works, Oppenheimer draws from a range of real-life planning scenarios, including China, Syria, and the Iran nuclear crisis. To be sure, new crises will arise that supplant these current ones, but his basic method will aid policymakers in almost every future situation. While nothing ever goes completely to plan-least of all international conflict-preparing with multiple scenarios in mind will always be the least worst approach to global and regional crises.
3. The Politics of EU-China Economic Relations: An Uneasy Partnership/ by Farnell, John. 2016
Abstract: This book examines the political factors in the economic relationship between the European Union and China that help to explain the apparent stalling of the EU-China strategic partnership in policy terms. Written by two specialists with long experience of EU-China relations, this new volume draws on the latest research on how each side has emerged from the economic crisis and argues that promising potential for EU-China cooperation is being repeatedly undermined by political obstacles on both sides.
4.  Post-war Japan as a Sea Power: Imperial Legacy, Wartime Experience and the Making of a Navy (Bloomsbury Studies in Military History)/ by Patalan,  Alessio. 2016
Abstract: In Post-war Japan as a Sea Power, Alessio Patalano incorporates new, exclusive source material to develop an innovative approach to the study of post-war Japan as a military power. This archival-based history of Asia's most advanced navy, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF), looks beyond the traditional perspective of viewing the modern Japanese military in light of the country's alliance with the US. The book places the institution in a historical context, analysing its imperial legacy and the role of Japan's shattering defeat in WWII in the post-war emergence of Japan as East Asia's 'sea power'.
5. Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics / by Cha, Victor D. 2016
Abstract: While the American alliance system in Asia has been fundamental to the region's security and prosperity for seven decades, today it encounters challenges from the growth of China-based regional organizations. How was the American alliance system originally established in Asia, and is it currently under threat? How are competing security designs being influenced by the United States and China? The author draws from theories about alliances, unipolarity, and regime complexity to examine the evolution of the U.S. alliance system and the reasons for its continued importance in Asia and the world.
6. Refugee Economies: Forced Displacement and Development/ by Betts, Alexander Betts. 2016
Abstract: This book adopts an inter-disciplinary approach, based on original qualitative and quantitative data on the economic life of refugees, in order to begin to build theory on the economic lives of refugees. It focuses on the case of Uganda because it represents a relatively positive case. Unlike other governments in the region, it has taken the positive step to allow refugees the right to work and a significant degree of freedom of movement through it so-called 'Self-Reliance Strategy'. This allows a unique opportunity to explore what is possible when refugees have basic economic freedoms. The book shows that refugees have complex and varied economic lives, often being highly entrepreneurial and connected to the global economy.
 7. Return to the Shadows: The Muslim Brotherhood and an-Nahda Since the Arab Spring/  by Pargeter, Alison .2016
Abstract: The Arab Spring heralded a profound shift in the Middle East, bringing to power Islamist movements which had previously been operating in the shadows. The Muslim Brotherhood stormed to victory in Egypt and emerged as a key player in Libya's nascent political arena. Meanwhile, An-Nahda found itself catapulted into power as the head of Tunisia's coalition government. For a while, it looked as though the region was entering the dawn of a new Islamist age.
8. Riding the Tiger: How to Execute Business Strategy in India/ by Aulbur, Wilfried. 2016
Abstract: In this book, Wilfried Aulbur and Amit Kapoorlook at successful and sometimes not-so-successful, strategies, operations and innovations in India. They have distilled lessons from their decades of practical work experience in the country. From large family conglomerates like Tata and Godrej to newer additions like Adani, from MNCs like Maruti Suzuki to start-upsin Bangalore and Gurgaon—the book explores key learnings from all four kinds of companies in an Indian context and provides useful insights intohow business is done in India.
9. Right to Passage: Travels Through India, Pakistan and Iran /by Kha  Zeeshann. 2016
Abstract: In 2011, the auhtor decided to travel from his city Dhaka via India and Pakistan to Iran and on to Europe. This book traces his journey till he left the borders of Iran, a distance he completed in about 60 days. For Khan the journey was about travelling along a historical route steeped in cultures, languages, religions and races, all woven together as a single, indivisible whole. While India represented somewhat familiar terrain, travelling through contemporary Pakistan and Iran was a particular eye-opener for the author. Much of the current realities of the region are reflected in the book, along with Khan’s own commentary about what he observed and encountered.
10. Rising China in a Changing World: Power Transitions and Global Leadership/by Kai ,Jin.2017
Abstract: In this book, the author provides an alternative perspective on the power interactions between a rising China and a "relatively" declining U.S. in the changing world situation. Grounded in previous scholarship, Jin argues that China's rise is historically, culturally, and structurally different; a peaceful power transition requires engagement by the U.S. in international institutions. Grounded in case studies and theory, this study will be of relevance to any reader interested in the evolving great power relationship between China and the U.S.
11.  Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs / by Chomsky, Noam. 2016
Abstract: Noam Chomsky argues that, contrary to popular perception, the real 'rogue' states in the world today are not the dictator-led developing countries we hear about in the news, but the United States and its allies. He challenges the legal and humanitarian reasons given to justify intervention in global conflicts in order to reveal the West's reliance on the rule of force. He examines NATO's intervention in Kosovo, the crisis in East Timor, and US involvement in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
12. Russia and the Arctic: Environment, Identity and Foreign Policy/ by Honneland, Geir. 2016
Abstract: The world is currently witnessing an 'Arctic Scramble'-as the major powers compete to demarcate and occupy Arctic territory. The region is known to be home to large gas and oil reserves, and its position at the top of the globe holds significant trading and military advantages. Yet the territorial boundaries of the region remain ill-defined and Russia, under the increasingly bold foreign policy of Vladimir Putin, has emerged as a forceful power in the region. The author investigates the political contexts and international tensions surrounding Russia's actions, focusing especially on the disputes which have emerged in the Barents Sea-where European and Russian interests compete directly.
13. Russia: What Everyone Needs to Know/ by Timothy, J. Colton. 2016
Abstract: The book provides fundamental information about the origins, evolution, and current affairs of the Russian state and society. The story begins with Russia's geographic endowment, proceeds through its experiences as a kingdom and empire, and continues through the USSR's three-quarters of a century, and finally the shocking breakup of that regime a generation ago. Chapters on the failed attempt to reform Communism under Mikhail Gorbachev, the halting steps toward democratization under Boris Yeltsin, and the entrenchment of central controls under Vladimir Putin bring the reader into the contemporary scene and to headline-grabbing events such as Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and its military intervention in Syria.
14. The Seven Secrets of Germany: Economic Resilience in an Era of Global Turbulence/ by Audretsch, David B. and  Lehmann, Erik E. 2016
Abstract: This book reveals, explains, and analyzes seven key aspects of Germany, its economy, and its society that have provided the nation with considerable buoyance in an era of global turbulence. These seven features range from the key and strategic role played by small firms to world leadership in its skilled and trained labor force, an ability to harness global opportunities through leveraging local resources, public infrastructure, the capacity to deal with change and confront challenges in a flexible manner, and the emergence of a remarkably positive identity and image. 
15. Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910–1962/by Guyot-Réchard,  Bérénice . 2017
Abstract: Since the mid-twentieth century China and India have entertained a difficult relationship, erupting into open war in 1962. Shadow States is the first book to unpack Sino-Indian tensions from the angle of competitive state-building - through a study of their simultaneous attempts to win the approval and support of the Himalayan people. When China and India tried to expand into the Himalayas in the twentieth century, their lack of strong ties to the region and the absence of an easily enforceable border made their proximity threatening - observing China and India's state-making efforts, local inhabitants were in a position to compare and potentially choose between them. Using rich and original archival research, Bérénice Guyot-Réchard shows how India and China became each other's 'shadow states'. Understanding these recent, competing processes of state formation in the Himalayas is fundamental to understanding the roots of tensions in Sino-Indian relations.
16.  Shifting Power in Asia-Pacific?: The Rise of China, Sino-US Competition and Regional Middle Power Allegiance (Global Power Shift)/ by Fels, Enrico, 2016
Abstract: This book investigates whether a power shift has taken place in the Asia-Pacific region since the end of the Cold War. By systematically examining the development of power dynamics in Asia-Pacific, it challenges the notion that a wealthier and militarily more powerful China is automatically turning the regional tides in its favour. With a special emphasis on Sino-US competition, the book explores the alleged linkage between the regional distribution of relevant material and immaterial capabilities, national power and the much-cited regional power shift.
17.  Should We Fear Russia? (Global Futures)/ by Trenin, Dmitri . 2016
Abstract:The author explains why the Cold War analogy is misleading.  Relations between the West and Russia are certainly bad and dangerous but - he argues - they are bad and dangerous in new ways; crucial differences which make the current rivalry between Russia, the EU and the US all the more fluid and unpredictable.  Unpacking the dynamics of this increasingly strained relationship, Trenin makes a compelling case for handling Russia with pragmatism and care rather than simply giving into fear.
18. Sleepwalking to Surrender: Dealing with Terrorism in Pakistan/ by Ahmed, Khaled. 2016
Abstract: Non-state actors and the extremist terror outfits they control, pursue extortion, kidnapping and murder to fund their activities and receive ideological, financial and logistical support from the deep state. The army continues to use them in its India-centric agenda. Civilian institutions are intimidated and individuals who speak out against the terror outfits become targets of their retribution. Violence, not law, increasingly commands human conduct and the state’s willingness to enter into ‘peace talks’ with the Taliban is viewed as a form of surrender to extremism. The auhtor is Pakistan’s most respected columnist and his formidable expertise on the ideologies of extremism is internationally acknowledged. In Sleepwalking to Surrender, he analyses the terrible toll terrorism has taken on Pakistan and appraises the portents for the future.
19. The Small Gulf States: Foreign and Security Policies before and after the Arab Spring / by  Almezaini, Khalid S. and Marc Rickli , Jean-Marc. 2017
Abstract: The Book analyses the evolution of these states’ foreign and security policies since the Arab Spring. With particular focus on Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, it explores how these states have been successful in not only guaranteeing their survival, but also in increasing their influence in the region. It then discusses the security dilemmas small states face, and suggests a multitude of foreign and security policy options, ranging from autonomy to influence, in order to deal with this. The book also looks at the influence of regional and international actors on the policies of these countries. It concludes with a discussion of the peculiarities and contributions of the Gulf states for the study of small states’ foreign and security policies in general.
20. The South Asia Papers: A Critical Anthology of Writings/by Stephen Philip, Cohen 2016
Abstract: The armed forces of India and Pakistan have played a pivotal role in shaping relations between the two countries, which has in turn influenced the social and political climate of entire South Asia. Stephen P. Cohen, political scientist and professor of security studies specializing in the region, delves into the military history of South Asia in this deeply researched book. He investigates the pathologies of India-Pakistan relations, the region’s growing nuclear arsenal and the US’s fitful and forgetful, foreign policy with the different players here..
21. The South China Sea Disputes: Past, Present, and Future/by  Roy, Nalanda . 2016
Abstract: The South China Sea has long been regarded as one of the most complex and challenging ocean-related maritime disputes in East Asia. Recently it has become the locus of disputes that have the potential of escalating into serious international conflicts. Historical mistrust, enduring territorial disputes, and competing maritime claims have combined to weaken an at least partially successful regional security structure. Issues of concern include territorial sovereignty; disputed claims to islands, rocks, and reefs; jurisdiction over territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, and the seabed; regional and international rights to use the seas for military purposes; maritime security; rapid economic development; and environmental degradation.
22. The Soviet Mind: Russian Culture Under Communism (A Brookings Classic) / by Talbott, Strobe ,  Berlin,Isaiah , Hardy,  Henry. 2016
Abstract: The Book proves himself worthy of that accolade. Although the essays in this book were originally written to explore tensions between Soviet communism and Russian culture, the thinking about the Russian mind that emerges is as relevant today under Putin’s post-communist Russia as it was when this book first appeared more than a decade ago.
This Brookings Classic brings together Berlin's writings about the Soviet Union. Among the highlights are accounts of Berlin's meetings with Russian writers in the aftermath of the war; a celebrated memorandum written for the British Foreign Office in 1945 about the state of the arts under Stalin; Berlin's account of Stalin's manipulative "artificial dialectic"; portraits of Pasternak and poet Osip Mandel’shtam; Berlin's survey of Russian culture based on a visit in 1956; and a postscript reflecting on the fall of the Berlin Wall and other events in 1989.
23.  Space is Power: The Seven Rules of Territory /  by Hickman , John . 2016
Abstract: Space Is Power: The Seven Rules of Territory challenges the intellectual conceits that human territoriality is merely a social construct, that territorial sovereignty is atavistic, that territorial annexation is always irrational, and that territorial disputes are provoked by foreign policy makers who seek to divert public attention from more important issues. Space Is Power argues that territoriality is too basic to human nature to be denied and territorial sovereignty is too important to the survival of the modern state to be ignored. The truths about territory are captured in seven rules, some of which are intuitive while others contradict conventional wisdom. Rather than anticipating the transcendence of the territorial states, this book argues that the unmistakable direction of international politics is toward encompassing ever more physical space as the territory of states.
24. Sri Lanka: the struggle for peace in the Aftermath of War/ by Amarasingam, Amarnath  , Amarasingam, Bass, Daniel. 2016
Abstract: Even though Sri Lanka's protracted civil war came to a bloody conclusion in May 2009, prospects for a sustainable peace remain uncertain. The Sri Lankan army is no longer waging military campaigns and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are no longer carrying out political assassinations and suicide attacks, yet structural violence continues, and has arguably intensified since the war's end. Anti-Tamil discrimination, anti-Muslim violence, and Sinhala Buddhist majoritarianism all increased in the war's aftermath, as President Mahinda Rajapakse's government invoked its military victory over the LTTE to silence any opposition.
25. Statecraft in the Middle East: Foreign Policy, Domestic Politics and Security/ by Mansour,  Imad. 2016
Abstract: This book argues that government policies in both foreign relationsand domestic politics must always be situated within a broader deational and societal context. Imad Mansour analyses how governments in the contemporary Middle East have governed internally and acted externally based on societal narratives, which bring together a variety of ideas about a society's history and place in the world. He argues that there is a dominant societal narrative that acts as a primary building block of statecraft, where statecraft is understood as an ongoing set of local, regional and global state-building processes.
26. Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism, by Hamid , Sadek.  2016
Abstract: British Muslim activism has evolved constantly in recent decades. What have been its main groups and how do their leaders compete to attract followers? Which social and religious ideas from abroad are most influential? In this groundbreaking study, Sadek Hamid traces the evolution of Sufi, Salafi and Islamist activist groups in Britain, including The Young Muslims UK, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Salafi JIMAS organisation and Traditional Islam Network. With reference to second-generation British Muslims especially, he explains how these groups gain and lose support, embrace and reject foreign ideologies, and succeed and fail to provide youth with compelling models of British Muslim identity. Analysing historical and firsthand community research, Hamid gives a compelling account of the complexity that underlies reductionist media narratives of Islamic activism in Britain.
27. Sustainable Security: Rethinking American National Security Strategy/ by Suri, Jeremi. 2016
Abstract: This book brings together sixteen leading scholars from across political science, history, and political economy to highlight a range of American security considerations that deserve a larger role in both scholarship and strategic decision-making. In these chapters, scholars of political economy and the American defense budget examine the economic engine that underlies U.S. military might and the ways the country deploys these vast (but finite) resources. Historians illuminate how past great powers coped with changing international orders through strategic and institutional innovations. And regional experts assess America's current long-term engagements, from NATO to the chaos of the Middle East to the web of alliances in Asia, deepening understandings that help guard against both costly commitments and short-sighted retrenchments.
28. Exile: A Memoir/ by Nasrin,  Taslima, Chakraborty,  Maharghya . 2016
Abstract: On 22 November 2007, the city of Kolkata came to a rude screeching halt as a virulent mob of religious fanatics took to the streets of the city. Armed with a fatwa from their ideologues the mob demanded Taslima Nasrin leave the city immediately.
While the Kolkata Police stood watching, mere dumb witnesses to such hooliganism, a morally, intellectually and politically bankrupt Left Front Government, tottering under the strain of their thirty-year-old backward looking rule, decided to ban her book and drive her out of Kolkata, a city she has always considered her second home.
This inextricable nexus of petty political conspiracies, votebank politics and minority appeasement saw her being hurriedly shifted, first to Jaipur and then to Delhi, only to be
confined to an obscure ‘safehouse’ in an undisclosed location and left to face incessant pressure from senior officials and politicians to leave India. 
29. The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State/ by Lawrence, Weight. 2016
Abstract: The Book draws on several articles he wrote while researching The Looming Tower, as well as many that he’s written since, following where and how al-Qaeda and its core cultlike beliefs have morphed and spread. They include a portrait of the “man behind bin Laden,” Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the tumultuous Egypt he helped spawn; an indelible impression of Saudi Arabia, a kingdom of silence under the control of the religious police; the Syrian film industry, at the time compliant at the edges but already exuding a feeling of the barely masked fury that erupted into civil war; the 2006–11 Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, a study in the disparate value of human lives. Other chapters examine al-Qaeda as it forms a master plan for its future, experiences a rebellion from within the organization, and spins off a growing web of worldwide terror. The American response is covered in profiles of two FBI agents and the head of the intelligence community. The book ends with a devastating piece about the capture and slaying by ISIS of four American journalists and aid workers, and our government’s failed response.
30. Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations/ by Friedman, Thomas L. 2016
Abstract: The Book exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them. Friedman's thesis is that the planet's three largest forces - Moore's law (technology), the market (globalization) and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss) - are all accelerating at once. An extraordinary release of energy is reshaping every thing from how we hail a taxi to the fate of nations to our most intimate relationships.
31. Things to Leave Behind / by Gokhale, Namita. 2016 
Abstract: A rich, panoramic historical novel shows you Kumaon and the Raj as you have never seen them. It is 1856, in picturesque Kumaon. History has already begun its steady march. Six native women clad in black and scarlet pichauras huddle around Naineetal Lake, attempting to cleanse it of threatening new influences. For, these are the days of Upper Mall Road (for Europeans and their horses) and Lower Mall Road (‘for dogs, servants and other Indians’). And this is the story of feisty young Tilottama Dutt, whose uncle hangs when he protests the reigning order—and her daughter, Deoki, who will confront change as Indians and as women. Things to Leave Behind brings alive the romance of the mixed legacy of British-Indian past.
32. Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and Geo-Politics: Pathways to Influence/ by Abelson, Donald E. 2017
Abstract: Questions about the role and influence of think tanks in matters of foreign policy and geopolitics are both timely and important. The reconfiguration of global power, explosion of social media, shifts away from traditional print and oral-based ways of imparting knowledge, and the dramatic increase in the volume of information and ideas clamoring for the attention of policy-makers are changing the landscape of foreign policy-making and the pathways through which influence is achieved. This book explains the impact of think tanks on the framing of domestic and international conversations on matters of foreign policy and geopolitics. An international group of prominent experts examine these issues in specific countries and also across national and regional borders to better understand how governments and actors in civil society are influenced by the activities of think tanks.
33. The Third Option for the South China Sea: The Political Economy of Regional Conflict and Cooperation/  by Green, David Jay. 2016
Abstract: This Palgrave Pivot uses a simple model from game theory to explain the behavior of countries disputing ownership of resources and of small islands in the South China Sea. It argues that the rapid transformation of the region's economy - the rise of Factory Asia – is not being acknowledged, leading countries to take chances beyond what a rational picture of costs and benefits would suggest. Regional economic cooperation may be a viable alternative to the present conflicts. However, the varied experience of regional initiatives in Southeast Asia provides a cautionary note that, while there is the potential for peaceful development of the South China Sea, there are significant challenges to structuring successful programs. 
34. Tibet in Agony /by Li, Jianglin. 2016
Abstract: The author provides the first clear historical account of the Chinese crackdown in Lhasa in 1959. Sifting facts from the distortions of propaganda and partisan politics, she reconstructs a chronology of events that answers linger ingquestions and tells a gripping story of a crisis whose aftershocks continue to rattle the region today. The Chinese Communist government has twice invoked large-scale military might to crush popular uprisings in capital cites. The second incident―the notorious massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989―is well known. The first, thirty years earlier in Tibet, remains little understood today. Yet in wages of destruction, bloodshed and trampling of human rights, the tragic toll of March 1959 surpassed Tiananmen. Tibet in Agony provides the first clear historical account of the Chinese crackdown in Lhasa.
35. Tribes and States in a Changing Middle East/ by Uzi Rabi, Uzi. 2016
Abstract: The book is a comparative endeavour that seeks to address questions related to the interplay between tribal organisations and state institutions, tribal solidarity and nationalism, and tribal power and the centralised government. It further discusses the impact and role of tribal polities in modern states in times of regional and national turmoil.
36. Understanding Pakistan: Emerging Voices from India,/ by Joseph C., Mathew. 2015
Abstract: The Book is the outcome of a national seminar for research scholars on Pakistan organized by the Centre for Pakistan Studies at the MMAJ Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. The aim of the seminar was to explore how young minds in India view Pakistan, the quintessential ‘enemy’ country or the ‘other’ of India. The range of topics included issues related to Pakistan’s politics, economy, popular culture, education, environment, sectarian divide, minorities, policy towards Jammu & Kashmir and foreign relations.
37. The Undoing Project: a friendship that changed the World,/by Lewis, Michael.  2016
Abstract: Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky met in war-torn 1960s Israel. Both were gifted young psychology professors: Kahne man a rootless son of holocaust survivors who saw the world as a problem to be solved; Tversky a voluble, instinctual blur of energy. In this breathtaking new book, Michael Lewis tells the extraordinary story of a relationship that became a shared mind: one which created the field of behavioural economics, revolutionising everything from Big Data to medicine, from how we are governed to how we spend, from high finance to football. Kahneman and Tversky, shows Michael Lewis, helped shape the world in which we now live - and may well have changed, for good, humankind's view of its own mind.
38. The United Arab Emirates: Power, Politics and Policy-Making (The Contemporary Middle East)/by Coates Ulrichsen,  Kristian . 2017
Abstract: The United Arab Emirates: Power, Politics, and Policymaking charts the various processes of state formation and political and economic development that have enabled the UAE to emerge as a significant regional power and major player in the post Arab Spring reordering of Middle East and North African Politics, as well as the closest partner of the US in military and security affairs in the region. It also explores the seamier underside of that growth in terms of the condition of migrant workers, recent interventions in Libya and Yemen, and, latterly, one of the highest rates of political prisoners per capita in the world. The book concludes with a discussion of the likely policy challenges that the UAE will face in coming years, especially as it moves towards its fiftieth anniversary in 2021.
39.  Uttara: The Book of Answers/by Satta,  Arshia. 2016
Abstract: Of the seven books that comprise the Valmiki Ramayana, the Uttara Kanda is the final and perhaps the most problematic: Rama banishes his beloved Sita into the forest; Rama kills Shambuka, a low caste man practising austerities that are above his station; Rama is reunited with his sons during a sacrifice at which he loses his wife forever; Rama watches over the death of his devoted brother Lakshmana who knowingly submits to a curse that will take his life. In Uttara, Arshia Sattar exquisitely captures the heady delights of the original text in all its sensuous, colourful detail—frenzied battles, simmering intrigue, lustful demons and the final and tragic act in Rama and Sita's love story. But the Uttara Kanda raises more questions than it answers and Sattar’s accompanying essays skillfully explore the shattering consequences of Rama’s actions even as they unravel the complex moral universe of the Ramayana.
40. Where are All Our Sheep: Kyrgyzstan, a Global Political Arena (Dislocations) by Petric, Boris. 2015
Abstract: After the collapse of the USSR, Kyrgyzstan chose a path of economic and political liberalization. Only a few years later, however, the country ceased producing anything of worth and developed a dependence on the outside world, particularly on international aid. Its principal industry, sheep breeding, was decimated by reforms suggested by international institutions providing assistance. Virtually annihilated by privatization of the economy and deserted by Moscow, the Kyrgyz have turned this economic "opening up" into a subtle strategy to capture all manner of resources from abroad. In this study, the author describes the encounters, sometimes comical and tinged with incomprehension, between the local population and the well-meaning foreigners who came to reform them.


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