The bestselling author of The Limits of Power critically examines the Washington consensus on national security and why it must change For the last half century, as administrations have come and gone, the fundamental assumptions about America's military policy have remained unchanged: American security requires the United States (and us alone) to maintain a permanent armed presence around the globe, to prepare our forces for military operations in far-flung regions, and to be ready to intervene anywhere at any time. In the Obama era, just as in the Bush years, these beliefs remain unquestioned gospel. In Washington Rules, a vivid, incisive analysis, Andrew J. Bacevich succinctly presents the origins of this consensus, forged at a moment when American power was at its height. He exposes the preconceptions, biases, and habits that underlie our pervasive faith in military might, especially the notion that overwhelming superiority will oblige others to accommodate America's needs and desires—whether for cheap oil, cheap credit, or cheap consumer goods. And he challenges the usefulness of our militarism as it has become both unaffordable and increasingly dangerous. Though our politicians deny it, American global might is faltering. This is the moment, Bacevich argues, to reconsider the principles which shape American policy in the world—to acknowledge that fixing Afghanistan should not take precedence over fixing Detroit. Replacing this Washington consensus is crucial to America's future, and may yet offer the key to the country's salvation.

For two decades Bruce Robbins has been a theorist of and participant in the movement for a "new cosmopolitanism," an appreciation of the varieties of multiple belonging that emerge as peoples and cultures interact. In Perpetual War he takes stock of this movement, rethinking his own commitment and reflecting on the responsibilities of American intellectuals today. In this era of seemingly endless U.S. warfare, Robbins contends that the declining economic and political hegemony of the United States will tempt it into blaming other nations for its problems and lashing out against them. Under these conditions, cosmopolitanism in the traditional sense—primary loyalty to the good of humanity as a whole, even if it conflicts with loyalty to the interests of one's own nation—becomes a necessary resource in the struggle against military aggression. To what extent does the "new" cosmopolitanism also include or support this "old" cosmopolitanism? In an attempt to answer this question, Robbins engages with such thinkers as Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Anthony Appiah, Immanuel Wallerstein, Louis Menand, W. G. Sebald, and Slavoj Zizek. The paradoxes of detachment and belonging they embody, he argues, can help define the tasks of American intellectuals in an era when the first duty of the cosmopolitan is to resist the military aggression perpetrated by his or her own country.

"In sharing the story of his life and experiences from growing up in rural Oklahoma, his mission work in Haiti, to chance encounters with people from many walks of life, Reese Scott demonstrates how an ordinary person can make an extraordinary impact on the lives of others through hard work, prayer, and the recognition that we all have an obligation to share our gifts and blessings with each other. There are many uplifting lessons in these parables." Susan Paddock State Senator Susan Paddack Ada, Oklahoma "Reese Scott reminds us that, by faith in God, possibilities are never in short supply. Faith releases us to dream the impossible." Floyd Kaiser Religious Leader Southwest Church of Christ Ada, Oklahoma "Reese Scott has done a marvelous job of showing the readers of his book, Parables in My Life, how very practical Jesus's teachings are to real life. I must give a hearty AMEN " Mark Lyon In SEARCH of the Lord's Way Edmond, Oklahoma Jesus told the stories of the Parables to bring spiritual concepts to life and to illustrate lessons for living. For example, "The Prodigal Son" and the "Good Samaritan" are familiar parables that illustrate, in a symbolic way, the Christian path of living. In Parables in My Life, Reese Scott recalls life situations during his nine decades of Christian living that mirror Jesus's parables, from his Depression-era upbringing in Oklahoma to personal encounters across four generations to a quarter century of mission trips to Haiti. With Parables in My Life as your guide, you too will surely begin to see how Christ's parables can affect your daily decisions and guide your own life today.

Without question, the parables of Jesus are the most-loved and most-used texts in the entire New Testament -- a blessing, opportunity, and challenge to preachers, study groups, and congregations alike. They are the most-loved because as word pictures, they are immediately accessible. We can imagine the situations they describe and wonder how they apply to our own lives. The parables also bring us as near to Jesus as we can get. Biblical scholars agree that the parables are the most authentic words of Jesus available to us, and we value them for that reason. At the same time, the parables present many challenges. The parables appear more than 30 times in the Revised Common Lectionary. Ministers are called to preach the parables over and over again. It 's not easy to approach the parables in a fresh way, or to gain new insights from them when we hear or preach them so often. Which is why The Art of Parables by Charles McCollough is such an indispensable resource. A theologian and artist, McCollough knows the parables intimately and offers a unique, two-pronged approach to each of the 31 parables contained in the New Testament: First, McCollough interprets each of the parables through sculpture. Seeing and approaching the parables visually, through art/sculpture, opens up new levels of understanding. Second, McCollough takes full account of the social, economic, and political context in which the parables were told, with often surprising and challenging results. For example, the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son parables have been used in endless ways to refer to compassionate care of the stranger and to forgiveness of wayward children. But are these the meanings Jesus intended? Not necessarily, says McCollough. This illustrated book (and the accompanying CD of images for projection) will be an invaluable resource to anyone who wants to explore the ethical and social justice issues contained in the parables of Jesus, in a unique way that honours the contribution of the arts.

Strangers to Nature challenges a reading public that has grown complacent with the standard framework of the animal ethics debate. Human influence on, and the control of, the natural world has greater consequences than ever, making the human impact on the lives of animals more evident. We cannot properly interrogate our conduct in the world without a deeper understanding of how our actions affect animals. It is crucial that the human-animal relationship become more central to ethical inquiry. This volume brings together many of the leading scholars who work to redefine and expand the discourse on animal ethics. The contributors examine the radical developments that change how we think about the status of non-human animals in our society and our moral obligations. Strangers to Nature will engage both scholars and lay-people by revealing the breadth of theorizing about current human/non-human animal relationships.

A scholarly study of the parables and stories in biblical tradition to help discover the common heritage of Christians and Jews.

In Danish: side 241-245

Appearances can be deceptive. This is a small book with the cosiest of titles – The Parable of the Dog – and you might assume that it isn’t deep. Presumably, Jesus’ listeners felt the same when he started to tell parables of straying sons, mustard seeds or mugged Samaritans. Be warned! As with the biblical parables, this soothing appearance disguises the sharpest of steel. This is an important, inspiring and relevant parable that addresses a critical issue in today’s church.

Many of the themes which were elaborated in Hanna Segal's earlier work return in this volume of her most recent papers. Two act as connecting strands and give the book its unity: the clinical usefulness of the concept of the death instinct and the relationship between fantasy and reality. A past mistress at capturing the vitality of the clinical session on the page, Segal shows how the same conflicts between life and death instincts, fantasy and reality, are experienced in the consulting room, reflected in literature, and played out by nations in their attitudes to war. Edited by John Steiner, this collection of writings by a leading psychoanalytic thinker provides a rich source of clinical insights and challenging theory for all analysts practising today.