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Building the Nation draws from foreign-policy reports and interviews with U.S. military officers to investigate recent U.S.-led efforts to “nation-build” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heather Selma Gregg argues that efforts to nation-build in both countries focused more on what should be called state-building, or how to establish a government, rule of law, security forces, and a viable economy. Considerably less attention was paid to what might truly be called nation-building—the process of developing a sense of shared identity, purpose, and destiny among a population within a state’s borders and popular support for the state and its government. According to Gregg, efforts to stabilize st...
Building the Nation draws from foreign-policy reports and interviews with U.S. military officers to investigate recent U.S.-led efforts to “nation-build” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heather Selma Gregg argues that efforts to nation-build in both countries focused more on what should be called state-building, or how to establish a government, rule of law, security forces, and a viable economy. Considerably less attention was paid to what might truly be called nation-building—the process of developing a sense of shared identity, purpose, and destiny among a population within a state’s borders and popular support for the state and its government. According to Gregg, efforts to stabilize st...
A comprehensive military textbook for our times, our wars
In the wake of 9/11, policy analysts, journalists, and academics have tried to make sense of the rise of militant Islam, particularly its role as a motivating and legitimating force for violence against the United States. The general perception is that Islam is more violence-prone than other religions and that scripture and beliefs within the faith, such as the doctrines of jihad and martyrdom, demonstrate the inherently violent nature of Islam. Here, however, Heather Selma Gregg draws comparisons across religious traditions to investigate common causes of religious violence. The author sets side-by-side examples of current and historic Islamic violence with similar acts by Christian, Jewish...
How can the world's religions, which propagate peace and love, promote violence and the killing of innocent civilians through terrorist acts? This Element aims to provide insights into this puzzle by beginning with a brief overview of debates on terrorism, a discussion on religion and the various resources it provides groups engaging in terrorist acts, four arguments for what causes religious terrorism, brief examples of religious terrorism across faith traditions, and a synopsis of deradicalization programs. This discussion shows that, when combined with certain political and social circumstances, religions provide powerful resources for justifying and motivating terrorist acts against civilians.
Presents the deep subject-matter understanding gained by a mid-career Air Force officer who as a Research Fellow engaged in a year-long quest for insight into asymmetric conflict analysis and synthesis. He acquired a first-hand appreciation of how intelligence can more systematically build and employ a capability to gain ground in this challenging environment. He presents his formulation in an accessible, systematic manner that makes it suitable as a handbook for practitioners at any level. Goes well beyond any existing guidance yet assembled in on e package.
This book presents the deep subject-matter understanding gained by a mid-career U.S. Air Force officer who as a Research Fellow engaged in a year-long quest for insight into asymmetric conflict analysis and synthesis. During the year, through innumerable exchanges with expert counterterrorism practitioners inside and outside of government, he acquired a first-hand appreciation of how intelligence can more systematically build and employ a capability to gain ground in this challenging environment. His formulation, presented here in an accessible, systematic manner that makes it suitable as a handbook for practitioners at any level, goes well beyond any existing guidance yet assembled in one package. This product has been reviewed by senior experts from academia and government, and has been approved for unrestricted distribution by the Office of Freedom of Information and Security Review, Washington Headquarters Services. It is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service (www.ntis.gov).
How do ideologies shape international relations in general and Middle Eastern countries' relations with the United States in particular? The Clash of Ideologies by Mark L. Haas explores this critical question. Haas's central claim is that leaders' ideological beliefs are likely to have profound effects on these individuals' perceptions of international threats. These threat perceptions, in turn, shape leaders' core security policies, including choices of allies and enemies and efforts to spread their ideological principles abroad as a key means of advancing their interests.Two variables are particularly important in this process: the degree of ideological differences dividing different group...
Thoroughly revised and updated, the fifth edition of the Rough Guide to Canada covers this vast and geographically diverse country in impressive detail. There are insightful accounts of every Canadian city, from vibrant Montréal to laid back Vancouver, and vivid descriptions of Canada''s varied landscapes, from the magnificent Rocky Mountains and the stormy coasts of the Maritimes to the northern Arctic reaches. Throughout there is practical advice on skiing, whale-watching, kayaking, hiking and a host of other outdoor pursuits. Thousands of listings recommend the best accommodation options, restaurants, bars and clubs in every price range.
The story told by The Persistence of Subsistence Agriculture begins 8,000 years ago as humans began using the land and weather to provide themselves with food, housing, and clothing. Productive farmers took care of most daily needs within the small conservative world in which they lived. This world organized around small-scale subsistence farming is ending as the ancient world of farmers has given away to that dominated by the modern marketplace. This book is about how the modern market world transformed these remote agricultural farmers. Waters uses diverse examples to illustrate how the modern market economy captured persistent subsistence farmers and forever altered life in 18th century Scotland, 19th century United States, 20th century Tanzania, and indeed, the entire modern world.