The past two decades have seen an intense, interdisciplinary interest in the border areas between states–inhabited territories located on the margins of a power center or between power centers. This timely and highly original collection of essays edited by noted scholar I. William Zartman is an attempt “to begin to understand both these areas and the interactions that occur within and across them”–that is, to understand how borders affect the groups living along them and the nature of the land and people abutting on and divided by boundaries.
These essays highlight three defining features of border areas: borderlanders constitute an experiential and culturally identifiable unit; borderlands are characterized by constant movement (in time, space, and activity); and in their mobility, borderlands always prepare for the next move at the same time as they respond to the last one. The ten case studies presented range over four millennia and provide windows for observing the dynamics of life in borderlands. They also have policy relevance, especially in creating an awareness of borderlands as dynamic social spheres and of the need to anticipate the changes that given policies will engender–changes that will in turn require their own solutions. Contrary to what one would expect in this age of globalization, says Zartman, borderlands maintain their own dynamics and identities and indeed spread beyond the fringes of the border and reach deep into the hinterland itself.

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I. William Zartman - Understanding Life in the Bor derlands, Boundaries in Depth and in Motion (2010).pdf

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Richard Dean Burns - The Missile Defense Systems o f George W. Bush, A Critical Assessment (2010).jpg

The Missile Defense Systems of George W. Bush: A Critical Assessment asks and answers a number of pressing questions about Bush’s decision to deploy ground-based missiles. Has the system become reliable? If not, what are the prospects for it to become effective? What have the fiscal costs been? What was the political impact of efforts to expand ABM systems to Europe?

This is the only major book that brings together all of the factors—historical and current—to allow readers to assess President Bush’s decisions for themselves. Opening with an extensive history of missile defense, the book analyzes Bush’s efforts to establish ground-based missiles in Eastern Europe, as well as the impact of his decisions. Both the administration’s policies and evaluations and those of critical observers are presented. President Obama’s program for missile defense is reviewed as well. A final chapter evaluates the technical progress of the various ABM systems and weighs the political dimensions of the deployment decision and the cost of the undertaking to date.

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Richard Dean Burns - The Missile Defense Systems o f George W. Bush, A Critical Assessment (2010).pdf

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Peter R. Mansoor - Baghdad at Sunrise, A Brigade C ommander's War in Iraq (2008).jpg

This is a unique contribution to the burgeoning literature on the Iraq war, analyzing the day-to-day performance of a U.S. brigade in Baghdad during 2004-2005. Mansoor uses a broad spectrum of sources to address the military, political and cultural aspects of an operation undertaken with almost no relevant preparation, which tested officers and men to their limits and generated mistakes and misjudgments on a daily basis. The critique is balanced, perceptive and merciless—and Mansoor was the brigade commander. Military history is replete with command memoirs. Most are more or less self-exculpatory. Even the honest ones rarely achieve this level of analysis. The effect is like watching a surgeon perform an operation on himself. Mansoor has been simultaneously a soldier and a scholar, able to synergize directly his military and academic experiences. He presents an eloquent critique of the armed forces' post-Vietnam neglect of counterinsurgency and makes a strong case for integrating military forces with civilian experts who can aid reconstruction in counterinsurgency operations. Above all, Mansoor reasserts the enduring impact of fog and friction on war. There is never an easy solution, he says—or an easy exit.

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Peter R. Mansoor - Baghdad at Sunrise, A Brigade C ommander's War in Iraq (2008).pdf

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Thomas S. Kidd - God of Liberty, A Religious Histo ry of the American Revolution (2010).jpg

Before the Revolutionary War, America was a nation divided by different faiths. But when the war for independence sparked in 1776, colonists united under the banner of religious freedom. Evangelical frontiersmen and Deist intellectuals set aside their differences to defend a belief they shared, the right to worship freely. Inspiring an unlikely but powerful alliance, it was the idea of religious liberty that brought the colonists together in the battle against British tyranny.
In God of Liberty, historian Thomas S. Kidd argues that the improbable partnership of evangelicals and Deists saw America through the Revolutionary War, the ratification of the Constitution, and the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800. A thought-provoking reminder of the crucial role religion played in the Revolutionary era, God of Liberty represents both a timely appeal for spiritual diversity and a groundbreaking excavation of how faith powered the American Revolution.

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Thomas S. Kidd - God of Liberty, A Religious Histo ry of the American Revolution (2010).pdf

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Bernan - Crime in the United States 2010 (2010).jpg

Crime in the United States contains findings that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) releases annually from its Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Because it is no longer printed by the FBI, Bernan continues to pre this practical information in convenient book form. This publication includes:
Violent and property crime counts Crime trends Data on crimes cleared Persons arrested (age, sex, and race) Law enforcement personnel (including the number of sworn officers killed or assaulted) The characteristics of homicides (including age, sex, and race of victims and offenders; victim-offender relationships; weapons used; and circumstances surrounding the homicides) Legal and law enforcement professionals and researchers will find crime statistics for the nation as a whole-and for regions, states, counties, cities, towns, and college and university campuses for violent and property crimes. Violent crimes include: murder and non-negligent manslaughter forcible rape robbery aggravated assault Property crimes include: burglary larceny-theft motor vehicle theft arson Nationwide, there were an estimated 1,382,012 violent crimes and 9,767,915 property crimes in 2008. The number of violent crimes in declined for the second year in a row. Property crimes also declined in 2008, marking the sixth straight year these offenses dropped below the previous year's total. Nearly 90 percent of the estimated number of violent crimes in the United States occurred in MSAs, 5.7 percent occurred in cities outside MSAs, and 4.5 percent occurred in nonmetropolitan counties. By community type, the violent crime rates were estimated at 489.0 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants in MSAs, 392.0 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants in cities outside MSAs, and 205.1 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants in nonmetropolitan counties. Law enforcement agencies made 14,005,615 arrests, excluding traffic violations, in 2008. Of these arrests, 594,911 were for violent crimes and 1,687,345 were for property crimes. The arrest rate for violent crimes was 198.2 per 100,000 persons. For property crime, the rate was 565.2 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. The most frequent arrests made in 2008 were for drug abuse violations (estimated at 1,702,537 arrests). These arrests made up 12.2 percent of the total number of all arrests. In 2008, 45.1 percent of violent crimes and 17.4 percent of property crimes nationwide were cleared by arrest or exceptional means. A breakdown of the clearances for violent crimes for 2008 revealed that the nation's law enforcement agencies cleared 63.6 percent of murder offenses, 54.9 percent of aggravated assault offenses, 40.4 percent of forcible rape offenses, and 26.8 percent of robbery offenses. The data for property crimes showed that agencies cleared 19.9 percent of larceny-theft offenses, 12.5 percent of burglary offenses, and 12.0 percent of motor vehicle theft offenses. Collectively, victims of property crime lost an estimated $17.2 billion.

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Bernan - Crime in the United States 2010 (2010).pdf

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Forrest E. Morgan - Pakistan, Can the United State s Secure an Insecure State (2010).jpg

The authors exposit likely developments in Pakistan's internal and external security environment over the coming decade; assess Pakistan's national will and capacity to solve its problems, especially those relating to security; describe U.S. interests in Pakistan; and suggest policies for the U.S. government to pursue in order to secure those interests.

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Forrest E. Morgan - Pakistan, Can the United State s Secure an Insecure State (2010).pdf

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Don J. Green - Third-Party Matters, Politics, Pres idents, and Third Parties in American History (201 0).jpg

Third parties have been a fixture in the American political landscape since the beginning of the two-party system. More than 300 of these groups have surfaced, but only a handful have made a real difference. Third-Party Matters: Politics, Presidents, and Third Parties in American History tells the intriguing stories of those 11 parties, starting with the antislavery Liberty Party of 1840.
The parties deemed worthy of inclusion were selected because they met at least one of three criteria. They were spoilers who changed the outcome of an election, they had an important influence on government policy or the future of politics, and/or they had popular appeal, attracting at least ten percent of the vote. This investigation reveals the background behind each party's rise, what it stood for, who its leaders were—including larger-than-life personalities like Teddy Roosevelt, George Wallace, and Ross Perot—and the ultimate outcome of the election(s) in which the party participated.

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Don J. Green - Third-Party Matters, Politics, Pres idents, and Third Parties in American History (201 0).pdf

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Sonia G. Benson - Development of the Industrial U. S. Reference Library, Almanac Vol 1 - 3 (2007).jpg

Industrialization is the widespread development of profitmaking businesses that manufacture products on a large scale, using labor-saving machinery. Understanding the history of the development of industrialization in the United States, which took place over two centuries, involves learning about some of its technical elements, such as technology and the economy. But the history of U.S. industrialism is also a dramatic story of people rising and falling from power or
struggling desperately to make the world a better place. Industrialization fueled the national culture, economy, daily life, and politics, creating such tremendous social changes that it is impossible to imagine what life in the United States would be like without it.

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Sonia G. Benson - Development of the Industrial U. S. Reference Library, Almanac Vol 1 - 3 (2007) [P DF x 3].rar

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Jeffrey A. Tucker - Bourbon for Breakfast (2010).jpg

The state makes a mess of everything it touches, argues Jeffrey Tucker in Bourbon for Breakfast. Perhaps the biggest mess it makes is in our minds. Its pervasive interventions in every sector affect the functioning of society in so many ways, we are likely to intellectually adapt rather than fight. Tucker proposes another path: see how the state has distorted daily life, rethink how things would work without the state, and fight against the intervention in every way that is permitted.
Whether that means hacking your showerhead, rejecting prohibitionism, searching for large-tank toilets, declining to use government courts, homeschooling, embracing alternative micro-cultures, watching pro-freedom movies, baking at home, maintaining manners and standards of dress, without copyright, and just living outside what he calls the "statist quo," we should not lose touch with what freedom means, even in these times.
The essays cover commercial life, digital media, culture, food, literature, religion, music, and a host of other issues -- all from the perspective of a Misesian-Rothbardian struggling to get by in a world in which the walls of the state have been closing in. He writes about the glories of commerce, the horrors of jail, the joy of private life, and defends a kind of aristocratic radicalism in times of increasingly restricted choices.
The "problem" with Jeffrey Tucker is that he has been flying under the Austro-libertarian radar for all too long. A tireless worker, but mostly a behind-the-scenes man (apart from his magnificent turn as Nathaniel Branden in Murray Rothbard's play, "Mozart was a Red"), he has in the past made numerous public contributions from time to time. But now with the publication of Bourbon for Breakfast: Living Outside the Statist Quo, a compilation of many and all of them magnificent shorter writings, he will no longer be able to hide his light under the proverbial bushel.

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Jeffrey A. Tucker - Bourbon for Breakfast (2010).pdf

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Chester G. Hearn - Lincoln, The Cabinet, and The G enerals (2010).jpg

While numerous accounts exist of President Abraham Lincoln's often-troubled dealings with either his cabinet or his generals, Chester G. Hearn's illuminating history pres the first broad synthesis of Lincoln's complex relationship with both groups. As such, it casts new light on much of the behind-the-scenes interplay, intrigue, and sparring between the president and his advisors and military commanders during the most precarious years of the Civil War.
Turning first to Lincoln's cabinet, Hearn explains that Lincoln exercised a unique decision-making process: he reached a firm conclusion on an issue, but then he debated it endlessly with his cabinet or generals as if still undecided. To ensure the liveliest discourse, Lincoln appointed as his advisors men with widely differing political motivations. The Republican Lincoln spent four years attempting to bring together his cabinet of former Whigs and Democrats in the spirit of cooperation, but he never completely achieved his purpose. Hearn explores the president's relationship with this cabinet, the problems he encountered selecting it, and the difficulties he experienced attempting to maintain ideological balance while trying to maneuver around those who disagreed with him.
Lincoln never broached a subject that did not create some level of dissent within the cabinet, and differences in political philosophy and personal rivalries led to great debate over the running of the administration, the selection of generals, foreign relations and military mobilization, emancipation, freedom of the , civil rights, and other issues. Still, Hearn asserts, Lincoln's ability to navigate internal scuffles and external turmoil helped to define his presidency.
Hearn next demonstrates convincingly that even with these difficulties, Lincoln manipulated his cabinet far more adroitly than he did his generals. Many of Lincoln's top military commanders had political aspirations or agendas of their own, while others were close friends of his intransigent cabinet members. Having assumed the role as de facto army chief, Lincoln took responsibility for the mishandling of battles fought by his generals, some of whom were incompetent and unmanageable politicians. Hearn examines the often-disastrous generalship and its impact on Lincoln and the cabinet, as well as the public, the , and Congress.
Based on over a decade of research, Lincoln, the Cabinet, and the Generals offers both a fresh perspective on and a new interpretation of Lincoln's presidency--one that reveals the leadership genius as well as the imperfections of America's sixteenth president.

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Chester G. Hearn - Lincoln, The Cabinet, and The G enerals (2010).pdf

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Derrick Jensen - Resistance Against Empire (2010).jpg

A scathing indictment of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, this collection of interviews gathers incendiary insights from 10 of today’s most experienced and knowledgeable activists. Whether it’s Ramsey Clark describing the long history of military invasion, Alfred McCoy detailing the relationship between CIA activities and the increase in the global heroin trade, Stephen Schwartz reporting the obscene costs of nuclear armaments, or Katharine Albrecht tracing the horrors of the modern surveillance state, this investigation of global governance is sure to inform, engage, and incite readers.

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Derrick Jensen - Resistance Against Empire (2010).pdf

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Arianna Huffington - Third World America, How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Be traying the American Dream (2010).jpg

USA Books - Arianna Huffington - Third World America, How Our Poli...the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream 2010.jpg

It’s not an exaggeration to say that middle-class Americans are an endangered species and that the American Dream of a secure, comfortable standard of living has become as outdated as an Edsel with an eight-track player. That the United States of America is in danger of becoming a third world nation.
The evidence is all around us:
Our industrial base is vanishing, taking with it the kind of jobs that have formed the backbone of our economy for more than a century; our education system is in shambles, making it harder for tomorrow’s workforce to acquire the information and training it needs to land good twenty-first century jobs; our infrastructure—our roads, our bridges, our sewage and water, our transportation and electrical systems—is crumbling; our economic system has been reduced to recurring episodes of Corporations Gone Wild; our political system is broken, in thrall to a small financial elite using the power of the checkbook to control both parties.
And America’s middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation – that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did.
It’s the dark flipside of the American Dream – an American Nightmare of our own making.
Arianna Huffington, who, with the must-read Huffington Post, has her finger on the pulse of America, unflinchingly tracks the gradual demise of America as an industrial, political, and economic leader. In the vein of her fiery bestseller Pigs at the Trough, Third World America points fingers, names names, and details who’s killing the American Dream.
Finally, calling on the can-do attitude that is part of America’s DNA, Huffington shows precisely what we need to do to stop our freefall and keep America from turning into a third world nation.
Third World America is a must-read for anyone disturbed by our country’s steady descent from 20th century superpower to backwater banana republic.

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Charisse Jones, Kumea Shorter-Gooden - Shifting,Th e Double Lives of Black Women in America (2004).jpg

Based on the African American Women's Voices Project, Shifting reveals that a large number of African American women feel pressure to com-promise their true selves as they navigate America's racial and gender bigotry. Black women "shift" by altering the expectations they have for themselves or their outer appearance. They modify their speech. They shift "White" as they head to work in the morning and "Black" as they come back home each night. They shift inward, internalizing the searing pain of the negative stereotypes that they encounter daily. And sometimes they shift by fighting back.
With deeply moving interviews, poignantly revealed on each page, Shifting is a much-needed, clear, and comprehensive portrait of the reality of African American women's lives today.

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Charisse Jones, Kumea Shorter-Gooden - Shifting,Th e Double Lives of Black Women in America (2004).pdf

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Condoleezza Rice - Extraordinary, Ordinary People, A Memoir of Family (2010).jpg

Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist. Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman - and the first black woman ever -- to serve as Secretary of State.
But until she was 25 she never learned to swim.
Not because she wouldn't have loved to, but because when she was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor decided he'd rather shut down the city's pools than give black citizens access.
Throughout the 1950's, Birmingham's black middle class largely succeeded in insulating their children from the most corrosive effects of racism, pring multiple support systems to ensure the next generation would live better than the last. But by 1963, when Rice was applying herself to her fourth grader's lessons, the situation had grown intolerable. Birmingham was an environment where blacks were expected to keep their head down and do what they were told -- or face violent consequences. That spring two bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chilling Klu Klux Klan attacks. Months later, four young girls lost their lives in a particularly vicious bombing.
So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did?
Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love of sports and politics. Her mother, a teacher, developed Condoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the fine arts. From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the face of hardship and the importance of giving back to the community. Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limits propelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’s second-in-command. An expert in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the Iron Curtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated. Less than a decade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidential election, she received the exciting news – just shortly before her father’s death – that she would go on to the White House as the first female National Security Advisor.
As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she is recalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the heady challenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holds nothing back in this remarkably candid telling. This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl – and a young woman -- trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world and of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community, that made all the difference.

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Harlan K. Ullman - Shock and Awe, Achieving Rapid Dominance (2007).jpg

The American military used the term ""Shock and Awe"" only after learning about it from this influencial book. This is key to understanding modern military strategy. It will influence the way you think about the Middle East, terrorism, and Iraq.

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Harlan K. Ullman - Shock and Awe, Achieving Rapid Dominance (2007).pdf

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John Q. LaFond, Mary L. Durham - Back to the Asylu m, The Future of Mental Health Law and Policy in t he United States (1994).jpg

USA Books - John Q. LaFond, Mary L. Durham - Back to the Asylum, T...Mental Health Law and Policy in the United States 1994.jpg

This book explains why American mental health law and policy now emphasize "law and order" rather than individualized justice and civil liberties, and why mental health law is currently being reshaped to protect society rather than the mentally ill.
Today, American mental health law and policy promote the restoring of "law and order" in the community rather than protecting civil liberties for the individual. This compelling book recounts how and why mental health law is being reshaped to safeguard society rather than mentally ill citizens. The authors, both experts in the field, convincingly demonstrate how rapidly changing American values ignited two very different visions of justice for the mentally ill. They argue that during the "Liberal era"-- from 1960 to 1980-- Americans staunchly supported civil liberties for all, particularly for disadvantaged citizens like the mentally ill. Also, criminal law provided ample opportunities for mentally ill offenders to avoid criminal punishment for their crimes, and restrictive civil commitment laws made it difficult to hospitalize the mentally disabled against their will. During the "Neoconservative era"--from 1980 on-- however, the public demanded new laws as a result of the rise in crime and the increasing number of homeless in communities. These changes make it much more difficult for mentally ill offenders to escape criminal blame and far easier to put disturbed citizens into hospitals against their will. Back to the Asylum accurately describes how this abrupt shift in from protecting individual rights to protecting the community has had a major impact on the mentally ill. It examines these legal changes in their broader social context and offers a provocative analysis of these law reforms. Finally, this timely work forecasts the future of mental health law and policy as America enters the twenty-first century.

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