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A “vastly entertaining” history of urban centers—from the ancient world to today (Time). From the earliest example in the Ancient Near East to today’s teeming centers of compressed existence, such as Mumbai and Tokyo, cities are home to half the planet’s population and consume nearly three-quarters of its natural resources. They can be seen as natural cultural artifacts—evidence of our civic spirit and collective ingenuity. This book gives us the ecological and functional context of how cities evolved throughout human history—the connection between pottery making and childbirth in ancient Anatolia, plumbing and politics in ancient Rome, and revolution and street planning in nineteenth-century Paris. This illuminating study helps us to understand how urban centers thrive, decline, and rise again—and prepares us for the role cities will play in the future. “A superb historical account of the places in which most of us either live or will live.” —Conde Nast Traveller
Nigeria, the United States’ most important strategic partner in West Africa, is in grave trouble. While Nigerians often claim they are masters of dancing on the brink without falling off, the disastrous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, the radical Islamic insurrection Boko Haram, and escalating violence in the delta and the north may finally provide the impetus that pushes it into the abyss of state failure. In this thoroughly updated edition, John Campbellexplores Nigeria’s post-colonial history and presents a nuanced explanation of the events and conditions that have carried this complex, dynamic, and very troubled giant to the edge. Central to his analysis are the oil wealth, endemic corruption, and elite competition that have undermined Nigeria’s nascent democratic institutions and alienated an increasingly impoverished population. However, state failure is not inevitable, nor is it in the interest of the United States. Campbell provides concrete new policy options that would not only allow the United States to help Nigeria avoid state failure but also to play a positive role in Nigeria’s political, social, and economic development.
This book is an in-depth study of the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights, written with the insight of an insider. It assesses the effectiveness of the Charter and of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in its formative years. It also compares the Charter with other major human rights instruments. The author asserts that respect for human rights made the existence of African societies possible despite the eras of gross violation. The survival of African societies, indeed their continued development, depends on respect for human rights. While conceding the universality of human rights, the author underscores African specificities and pecularities. He discusses the proper limits of `exclusively internal matters', as often claimed by African spokesmen, and puts forward the legitimate concerns of the international community as an effective check to arbitrariness and other violations. The book will be of special interest to international lawyers, law students, the judiciary and foreign office officials. The human rights activist will find it particularly useful in dealing with the African situation.
This book comes, first of all, as the answer to the yearning for more written literature on the identity of the Igbo people of the southeast of Nigeria. The early chapters deal with their geographical and historical identity. Then it holds a searchlight on the Igbo worldview: their sociocultural values and traditions, their religious concepts the nature and character of the supreme being; their family agnates, relationships, and the structure and elements of social control dynamics, which are unknown to the Western world. The showcase also discusses some very powerful elements and traditions that give the Igbo their peculiar identity: the kola nut tradition, Igbo name, and food culture. This book is also a road map of the Igbo experience in the context of Nigerian histopolitical developments from 1914 to 1976: the crises, the pogrom, and the Biafran phenomenon, and the Ikemba Saga. Other hallmarks of this book include the profile of great personages: Igbo greatest heroes past and present, the icons of Igbo identity on both national and international scenes. And finally, it concludes with the roll call: an amazing catalog of more than four thousand Igbo traditional names.
Exploring the contentious landscape of Nigeria’s escalating violence, this book describes the changing roles of traditional authorities in combatting contemporary security challenges. Set against a backdrop of widespread security threats – including insurgency, land disputes, communal violence, regional independence movements, and widespread criminal activities – perhaps more than ever before, Nigeria’s conventional security infrastructure seems ill-equipped for the job. This book offers a fresh, empirical analysis of the roles of traditional authorities – including kings, Ezes, Obas, and Emirs – who are often hailed as potent alternatives to the state in security governance. It ...