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Hollywood is a $40 billion annual business, one that is highly influential in culture. If we want to know who we are as individuals and a society, what we believe and what we value, we need to know and understand Hollywood and film. Make no mistake, Hollywood is neither philosophically, politically, nor morally neutral! Many studies demonstrate how movies “affect” us long before we have thought it through. In other words, Hollywood “smuggles” all kinds of ideas into our minds and hearts without us even knowing it. While Hollywood may be the biggest and most influential in the world, this book will demonstrate the growing international influence of film from India (Bollywood), Nigeria...
David and Mady Segal analyze the adaptation of American soldiers assigned to the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Desert in support of the Camp David Accords, in the context of the evolution of multinational peacekeeping forces as mechanisms for achieving international security. The reactions of soldiers and their wives to the peacekeeping assignment are considered from the perspective of the social construction of reality, in which the role of the military has been defined as war-fighting. The press has ignored peacekeeping until very recently, and it falls to military organizations, to soldiers and their families, to make sense of the mission. Lessons learned from the Sinai MFO experience should be used to help U.S. troops better prepare for their increasing role in multinational peacekeeping.
Which citizens have fought America's wars? Which ones should fight in the future, and how should they be recruited? Should military or other national service be an obligation for every citizen? David Segal's probing look at the complex issues behind these questions tells us much about the changing manpower needs of our armed forces and about the evolution of civil-military relations in the United States. Segal analyzes the mobilization, contributions, and limitations of drafted, reservist, and volunteer forces from the early days of the republic to the present. In the process, he shows how Americans have come to separate the benefits of citizenship from service to their country. Symptomatic ...
This accessible handbook is the first of its kind to examine the sociological approach to the study of the military. The contents are compiled from the work of researchers at universities around the world, as well as military officers devoted to the sector of study. Beginning with a review of studies prior to contemporary research, the book provides a comprehensive survey of the topic. The scope of coverage extends to civic-military relations, including issues surrounding democratic control of the armed forces; military culture; professional training; conditions and problems of minorities in the armed forces; an examination of structural change within the military over the years including new duties and functions following the Cold War.
Military coups are a constant threat in Africa and many former military leaders are now in control of 'civilian states', yet the military remains understudied, especially over the last decade. Drawing on extensive archival research, cross-national data, and four in-depth comparative case studies, When Soldiers Rebel examines the causes of military coups in post-independence Africa and looks at the relationship between ethnic armies and political instability in the region. Kristen A. Harkness argues that the processes of creating and dismantling ethnically exclusionary state institutions engenders organized and violent political resistance. Focusing on rebellions to protect rather than change the status quo, Harkness sheds light on a mechanism of ethnic violence that helps us understand both the motivations and timing of rebellion, and the rarity of group rebellion in the face of persistent political and economic inequalities along ethnic lines.
Assesses contemporary civil-military trends by looking at specific areas in the US military. This book provides the student and defense professional with a foundation on which to base organizational and personal policies. It also tells readers about what life is really like in military, and how it is both the same and different around the world.
As of September 2017, the United Nations alone deployed 110,000 uniformed personnel from 122 countries in fifteen peacekeeping operations worldwide. Soldiers in these missions are important actors who not only have considerable responsibility for implementing peace and stability operations but also have a concomitant influence on their goals and impact. Yet we know surprisingly little about the factors that prompt soldiers' behavior. Despite being deployed on the same mission under similar conditions, various national contingents display significant, systematic differences in their actions on the ground. In Military Cultures in Peace and Stability Operations, Chiara Ruffa challenges the wide...
Women in the military and their relationship with war often provoke controversial reactions that reveal entrenched stereotypes and cultural values central to many societies. This is the first comparative, cross-national study of the participation of women in the armed forces of NATO countries.
Covers the various aspects of war in the twenty-first century where asymmetric warfare has changed many rules of the game, imposing a profound transformation on the military, not only tactical, but also structural, preparatory, mental and ideological. This book also covers the delicate relations between the armed forces and societies.