The first post 9-11 election gave us a choice between two big-government, high-tax globocops quibbling over the details, not an alternative to the aggressive international militarism that makes us the natural and logical target of terrorism. This book looks at the progression from republic protected by militia to empire protected by standing armies in Athens and Rome - and the similar progression in America. It looks at an alternative: The Swiss way, which has kept Switzerland free and republican for 700 years in the center of a warlike continent. America once understood and followed Washington's "Great Rule" and J. Q. Adams' admonition not to go out into the world in search of monsters to destroy. We were then the light, not the sword, of freedom. Now we have picked up the sword only to see the light grow dimmer year by year.

"America's Forgotten History" is the story of America seen through libertarian eyes. It aims to be a good story, and one sympathetic to all sides. Part Three of the series, "A Progressive Empire," takes us from the end of the Civil War to the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. Along the way, as we trace party politics and presidencies, we look at... - Reconstruction and the Freedmen - The Indian Wars in the West - The land grant railroads - The labor and farmer movements - Populism and Progressivism - The Social Gospel and Christian Socialism - Jim Crow laws and Sundown Towns In the climactic final chapter, an America both driven to lead and fearful of being left behind finally joins Europe and Japan in the pursuit of overseas colonies. 1898 would mark the great if largely forgotten turning point when America became a progressive empire.

Is it America's destiny to be both a nanny state and garrison state? America's Forgotten History questions standard history from a constitutionalist point of view. This, the first of five volumes, covers English roots, the colonial period, the Revolution, the Constitution, and the first four presidential administrations, those of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. CONTACT [email protected]

Continuation of Part One. Monroe to Lincoln, each president a chapter. The struggle between Jeffersonianism and Hamiltonianism continues, but slavery warps the debate. Westward expansion, tariffs and free trade vs. government/business collusion. The Great Awakening. John Quincy Adams. Marshall, Clay, and Lincoln. Jackson and Van Buren. And finally, Puritans and Cavaliers dispute once again their deep cultural divide in another great and terrible civil war on a new continent. CONTACT: [email protected]

This study brings together Asian and Asia-based experts of international relations and U.S. foreign policy to present diverse Asian views about preferred modes of U.S. engagement in the region and compare their views with U.S. interests in the region-a prerequisite exercise to truly multilateral regional security governance. With the rise of Chinese power in absolute and relative terms over the next decades as a key driving factor of the international relations in the Asia Pacific, the United States has announced its "Rebalance to Asia" (previously referred as "Pivot to Asia") strategy. Asian responses, perceptions, and even interpretations of the U.S. strategy have been diverse. Misconceptions of the U.S. strategy can be attributed to the built-in contradictions among its objectives, deliberate ambiguities left by the architects of the strategy, mismatch between the stated strategy and actual policy implementations during the last three years, and subjective reading by the Asian countries through the lens of their own interests. This book will illuminate the diversity of Asian responses and perceptions and analyze the underlying reasons of the diversity. The overarching framework of analysis for this book is the very dilemma of alliances-abandonment and entrapment-which "hedging" aims at evading. "Abandonment" fear is primarily of the junior partner of an alliance that its senior partner may not come to its aid in crisis. Meanwhile, "entrapment" fear works both ways. The United States may drag its allies into its conflict against a third party, but U.S. allies may also drag the United States into their regional conflicts in which the United States has no direct or significant stake. The Asian choices of their strategic responses to the U.S. Rebalancing will be described and analyzed through the lens of the perceived balance between the abandonment and entrapment fears as well as other historical and domestic factors unique to each Asian country. The reading of the U.S. strategy by Asian countries is a subjective matter, and their interests likely influence their analysis and consequently strategies. It is not the aim of this volume to establish well defined "cause-and-effect" chain between the U.S. strategy and Asian strategies, but thick descriptions have enabled some chapter authors to identify reciprocal relations between the two. While China's growth is the most important driver of the changing strategic landscape in the Asia Pacific and the new U.S. strategy, the new U.S. strategy inevitably influence the Chinese strategy, which in turn triggers a chain reaction of strategic revisions in Asian countries. This book is essential reading for scholars in Asian politics, U.S. foreign policy, international relations as well as for policy makers.

This book argues that our world is inescapably mediated or specularized. It investigates human dilemmas without taking flight into cultural and political elitism and at the same time does not ignore the corporate and military agenda that is serviced by the media at great human cost. Arguments are drawn from political economy, psychoanalysis, and semiotics to describe the cultural functions of the media with respect to the state, the economy, the family, women and children and with regard to the problem of sustaining democratic public and civic institutions whose activities are wholly represented through the media.

Introduction: Friend to the undertaker. - The wasteland? : war and peace in ancient Rome. - The barbarians strike back : the counterproductive way of war, A.D. 1-1415. - The five hundred years' war : Europe (almost) conquers the world, 1415-1914. - Storm of steel : the war for Europe, 1914-1980s. - Red in tooth and claw : why the chimps of Gombe went to war. - The last best hope of Earth : American empire, 1989-?

A recent history of the Democratic Party that identifies its chronic errors—the “pathologies” of the New Democratic mindset—and argues urgently against a return to the status quo Why did the Democrats initially abandon their principles, and why haven’t they been able to grasp that they need a new strategy in the face of decades of diminishing returns? In Chaotic Neutral, political scientist Ed Burmila breaks it to us, tracing the party’s metamorphosis from bold defender of labor rights, civil rights, and a robust social safety net to a timorous, ideology-free, regulation-averse lifestyle brand. Chaotic Neutral tracks the evolution (or devolution) of the Democratic Party from the New Deal era to Biden’s status-quo candidacy and the pandemic, when, even in the midst of a national crisis, the Democrats could not manage to pass sweeping progressive legislation. It is a timely analysis and, simultaneously, a timeless one that pinpoints why Dem politicians act like also-rans even when they’re in power. Burmila doesn’t pull any punches as he describes the Democrats’ brand of futility politics, but he also doesn’t claim that all is futile, instead laying out a potent strategy for how the party might abandon its lesser-of-two-evils strategy and shift back into drive.

This “smart, confident, and necessary” (Shea Serrano, New York Times bestselling author) first cultural biography of rap superstar and “master of storytelling” (The New Yorker) Kendrick Lamar explores his meteoric rise to fame and his profound impact on a racially fraught America­—perfect for fans of Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s Empire State of Mind. Kendrick Lamar is at the top of his game. The thirteen-time Grammy Award­-winning rapper is just in his early thirties, but he’s already won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, produced and curated the soundtrack of the megahit film Black Panther, and has been named one of Time’s 100 Influential People. But what’s even more striking about the Compton-born lyricist and performer is how he’s established himself as a formidable adversary of oppression and force for change. Through his confessional poetics, his politically charged anthems, and his radical performances, Lamar has become a beacon of light for countless people. Written by veteran journalist and music critic Marcus J. Moore, this is much more than the first biography of Kendrick Lamar. “It’s an analytical deep dive into the life of that good kid whose m.A.A.d city raised him, and how it sparked a fire within Kendrick Lamar to change history” (Kathy Iandoli, author of Baby Girl) for the better.

Life Finds Its Way is a fascinating account of Nandini Kapadia's close association with Sabyasachi Guha. Her lifelong passionate interest in spirituality as well as her many years as a devotee of Ramana Maharshi led Nandini to the writings of that most radical sage of the 20thCentury, the late U.G. Krishnamurti. In no time, she learned of the existence of his close friend Guha, who as fate would have it, lived only a few miles from her home. The two first met in my apartment in 2013 and since then I have personally witnessed Nandini's transformation and blossoming connection to Guha. Her detailed accounts of their conversations, intimate interactions and impressions which led her to travel with him extensively across continents make for engrossing reading. Her self-analysis is unflinchingly honest and her observations about the people she meets and the places she visits are remarkably astute. A gifted writer and seeker, Nandini's insightful words cannot but help inspire a deeper interest in Guha's radical approach to spirituality and life. - Julie Thayer Author of Travels with U.G.