"This unique book examines the history, culture, and inner workings of the seven smallest independent countries in Europe. These are among the oldest states on the continent and, despite their diversity, they have much in common. Most have relatively high per capita incomes and life expectancies, and relatively low unemployment. This narrative presents the unique issues that confront small countries, including maintaining their independence, economic viability, preserving their native languages, and sustaining their governments. The second part of the book describes each microstate in turn, showing how each one has met these challenges and adapted over time. These concise and engaging chapters contain cultural information on subjects including the arts, gastronomy, and popular tourist sites."--Provided by publisher.

Italy Invades, full of restless adventurers, canny generals, and the occasional scoundrel, is a fast-paced and compelling read, the perfect sequel to America Invades. Recreating their success with America Invades, Christopher Kelly and Stuart Laycock take another global tour, this time starting from Italy and exploring that country's military involvements throughout the ancient and modern worlds. From the empire building of the Romans, through the globe-spanning Age of Exploration, to the multinational cooperation of NATO, Italy has conquered and explored countries as diverse and far-ranging as Cape Verde and Mongolia and Uruguay. With the additional guide of maps and photographs, the reader can visually follow the Italians as they conquer the world. The book also contains an excerpt from the never before published An Adventure in 1914, written by Christopher Kelly's maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Tileston Wells. Wells served as the American consul general to Romania each summer; and in the summer of 1914, as war exploded across Europe, he was there with his wife and two children.

The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture is FAO's first flagship publication on the global status of land and water resources. It is an 'advocacy' report, to be published every three to five years, and targeted at senior level decision makers in agriculture as well as in other sectors. SOLAW is aimed at sensitizing its target audience on the status of land resources at global and regional levels and FAO's viewpoint on appropriate recommendations for policy formulation. SOLAW focuses on these key dimensions of analysis: (i) quantity, quality of land and water resources, (ii) the rate of use and sustainable management of these resources in the context of relevant socio-economic driving factors and concerns, including food security and poverty, and climate change. This is the first time that a global, baseline status report on land and water resources has been made. It is based on several global spatial databases (e.g. land suitability for agriculture, land use and management, land and water degradation and depletion) for which FAO is the world-recognized data source. Topical and emerging issues on land and water are dealt with in an integrated rather than sectoral manner. The implications of the status and trends are used to advocate remedial interventions which are tailored to major farming systems within different geographic regions.

This casebook presents a deep comparative analysis of property law systems in Europe (ie the law of immovables, movables and claims), offering signposts and stepping stones for the reader wishing to explore this fascinating area. The subject matter is explained with careful attention given to its history, foundations, thought-patterns, underlying principles and basic concepts. The casebook focuses on uncovering differences and similarities between Europe's major legal systems: French, German, Dutch and English law are examined, while Austrian and Belgian law are also touched upon. The book combines excerpts from primary source materials (case law and legislation) and from doctrine and soft law. In doing so it presents a faithful picture of the systems concerned. Separate chapters deal with the various types of property rights, their creation, transfer and destruction, with security rights (such as mortgages, pledges, retention of title) as well as with harmonising and unifying efforts at the EU and global level. Through the functional approach taken by the Ius Commune Casebooks this volume clearly demonstrates that traditional comparative insights no longer hold. The law of property used to be regarded as a product of historical developments and political ideology, which were considered to be almost set in stone and assumed to render any substantial form of harmonisation or approximation very unlikely. Even experienced comparative lawyers considered the divide between common law and civil law to be so deep that no common ground - so it was thought - could be found. However economic integration, in particular integration of financial markets and freedom of establishment, has led to the integration of particular areas of property law such as mortgage law and enforceable security instruments (eg retention of title). This pressure towards integration has led comparative lawyers to refocus their interest from contract, tort and unjustified enrichment to property law and delve beneath its surface. This book reveals that today property law systems are closer to one another than previously assumed, that common ground can be found and that differences can be analysed in a new light to enable comparison and further the development of property law in Europe.

The Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia 2018 provides new evidence for monitoring trends in food security and nutrition within the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The in-depth analysis of progress made against Sustainable Development Goal 2 Target 2.1 (to end hunger and ensure access to food by all) and Target 2.2 (to end all forms of malnutrition), as well as the state of micronutrient deficiencies, is complemented by a review of recent policy measures taken to address food security and nutrition in all its dimensions. The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region encompasses great economic, social and environmental diversity, and its countries are facing various food security and nutrition challenges. While they have made significant progress in reducing the prevalence of undernourishment over the past two decades, new evidence shows a stagnation of this trend, particularly in Central Asia. Malnutrition in one or more of its three main forms – undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity – is present to varying degrees in all countries of the region. Often, all three forms coexist, creating what is called the “triple burden of malnutrition.” Overweight among children and obesity among adults continue to rise – with now almost one-fourth of the region’s adults obese – and constitute a significant concern for future health and well-being and related costs. While poverty levels in most ECA countries have been declining in recent years, poverty coupled with inequality has led to increased vulnerability of disadvantaged groups and populations in rural and remote areas of low- and lower-middle-income countries. New analysis shows that adult women have a higher prevalence of severe food insecurity than men in some areas, pointing to gender inequalities that are reflected in access to food. Addressing gender and other inequalities is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and heeding the call to “leave no one behind.” The publication’s focus this year is on migration, gender and youth and the linkages with rural development and food security in Europe and Central Asia. Migration is linked in multiple ways to gender, youth, and agricultural and rural development – both as a driver and possible source of development opportunities, with labour migration and remittances playing significant roles in the region. Changing migration processes need to be fully understood to better address the challenges of migration and harness the potential benefits for sustainable development and revitalized rural areas. Governments, public and private institutions, communities and other concerned parties must strengthen collaboration and scale up efforts towards achieving the goals of a thriving, healthy and food-secure region.

Presents a common vocabulary to facilitate the indexing, retrieval and exchange of development-related information.

This report consists of two main sections: 1) a situation analysis of Sustainable Development Goal 2 Target 2.1 (to end hunger and ensure access to food by all) and Target 2.2 (to end all forms of malnutrition) and analyses of the diets of children and of current food consumption patterns relative to dietary guidelines; and 2) a special look at the cost and affordability of healthy diets in Europe and Central Asia. The new estimates confirm that the prevalence of hunger at chronic or severe levels is relatively low in the ECA region. However, the prevalence of food insecurity at moderate or severe levels can be quite high. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to add people to the ranks of the food insecure. The ECA region is making progress overall in reducing malnutrition, but it is not on track regarding childhood overweight, adult obesity, anaemia and exclusive breastfeeding. Healthy diets protect against the effects of malnutrition, in all its forms, and promote better health.This report shows that healthy diets cost, on average, five times more than diets that meet only dietary energy needs, making them unaffordable for many people throughout the region. To increase the affordability of healthy diets, the costs of nutritious foods must be lowered. This report also shows that hidden costs are much lower with healthy diets than with current consumption patterns, meaning that adopting healthy diet alternatives could lead to large cost savings.