Operation Just Cause was the culmination of a gradually escalating confrontation between the United States and Panama. This volume examines the various ways representative examples of the global media covered the developing crisis and the eventual US incursion into Panama. This analysis and evaluation will serve to better illuminate and further enrich our understanding of one of the final events of the Cold War era.

Operation Just Cause, the United States' incursion into Panama, was the culmination of a gradually escalating confrontation between the United States and the Noriega dominated government of Panama that extended from June, 1987 until early January, 1990. Applying diverse methodological approaches, this volume examines the various ways representative examples of the global media covered the developing crisis and the eventual US incursion into Panama. The volume: - sets the stage for this analysis by delineating the chronological development of the escalating confrontation, as well as by examining the confrontation from the perspective of the US government - analyzes the crisis from the perspective of the US, Soviet, Canadian, French, Portuguese, Arab, and the People's Republic of China media - exposes the challenges for public affairs officers operating within the context of the global media response to international crises, and provides an assessment of the implications of the crisis for inter-American and international relations. This analysis and evaluation of a variety of global media perspectives on the escalating US-Panamanian confrontation will serve to better illuminate and further enrich our understanding of a major international event - indeed, one of the final events of the Cold War era.

How an overlooked film industry became a cinematic force The first book in English dedicated to the study of Central American film, this volume explores the main trends, genres, and themes that define this emerging industry. The seven nations of the region have seen an unprecedented growth in film production during the twenty-first century with the creation of over 200 feature-length films compared with just one in the 1990s. This volume provides a needed overview of one of the least explored cinemas in the world. In these essays, various scholars of film and cultural studies from around the world provide insights into the continuities and discontinuities between twentieth- and twenty-first-century cinematic production on the Isthmus. They discuss how political, social, and environmental factors, along with new production modes and aesthetics, have led to a corpus of films that delve into issues of the past and present such as postwar memory, failed revolutions, trauma, migration, popular culture, minority populations, and gender disparities. From Salvadoran documentaries to Costa Rican comedies and Panamanian sports films, the movies analyzed here demonstrate the region’s flourishing film industry and the diversity of approaches found within it. The Rise of Central American Film in the Twenty-First Century pays homage to an overlooked cultural phenomenon and shows the importance of regional cinema studies. Contributors: Liz Harvey-Kattou | Daniela Granja Núñez | Carolina Sanabria | Juan Carlos Rodríguez | María Lourdes Cortés | Júlia González de Canales Carcereny | Arno Jacob Argueta | Tomás Arce Mairena | Dr. Mauricio Espinoza | Lilia García Torres | Dr. Jared List | Patricia Arroyo Calderón | Esteban E. Loustaunau | Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste | Juan Pablo Gómez Lacayo | Jennifer Carolina Gómez Menjívar A volume in the series Reframing Media, Technology, and Culture in Latin/o America, edited by Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste and Juan Carlos Rodríguez Publication of this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In the last two years, Canadian society has been marked by political and ideological turmoil. How does an increasingly divided country engage a world that is itself divided and tumultuous? Political instability has been reinforced by international uncertainty: the COVID-19 pandemic, populism, Black Lives Matter, and the chaotic final year of the Trump presidency that increased tensions between the West, China and Russia. Even with a Biden presidency, these issues will continue to influence Canada’s domestic situation and its ability to engage as an effective global actor. Contributors explore issues that cause or reflect these tensions, such as Canada’s willingness to address pressing crises through multilateralism, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Can Canada forge its own path in a turbulent world?

This two-volume encyclopedia profiles the contemporary culture and society of every country in the Americas, from Canada and the United States to the islands of the Caribbean and the many countries of Latin America. From delicacies to dances, this encyclopedia introduces readers to cultures and customs of all of the countries of the Americas, explaining what makes each country unique while also demonstrating what ties the cultures and peoples together. The Americas profiles the 40 nations and territories that make up North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, including British, U.S., Dutch, and French territories. Each country profile takes an in-depth look at such contemporary topics as religion, lifestyle and leisure, cuisine, gender roles, dress, festivals, music, visual arts, and architecture, among many others, while also providing contextual information on history, politics, and economics. Readers will be able to draw cross-cultural comparisons, such as between gender roles in Mexico and those in Brazil. Coverage on every country in the region provides readers with a useful compendium of cultural information, ideal for anyone interested in geography, social studies, global studies, and anthropology.

Noam Zamir provides a thorough examination of the theoretical basis of classification of conflicts in international humanitarian law (IHL), with special focus on the legal impact of armed foreign intervention in civil wars. Classification of Conflicts in International Humanitarian Law enriches the discourse on IHL by providing an in-depth analysis of classification of conflicts and examining recent civil wars with foreign interventions, such as the Libyan civil war (2011), Mali civil war (2012-2015) and the ongoing civil war in Yemen.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.