San Antonio College Library

Roving vigilantes, fear-mongering politicians, hysterical pundits, and the looming shadow of a 700-mile-long fence: the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the most complex and dynamic areas on the planet today--but too often its complexities are viewed through the myopic lens of illegal immigration, ignoring a multitude of other critical issues that include health, the environment, drug trafficking, free trade, and post-9/11 security. This book provides...

"A riveting story about the murder that changed a nation: the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, "--Amazon.com. Ephron relates the parallel stories of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his stalker, Yigal Amir, over the two years leading up to the assassination, as one of them planned political deals he hoped would lead to peace, and the other plotted murder. Amir believed that Rabin's peace effort amounted to a betrayal...

"The eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire used to be a multi-ethnic region where Armenians, Kurds, Syriacs, Turks, and Arabs lived together in the same villages and cities. The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and rise of the nation state violently altered this situaiton. Nationalist elites intervened in heterogeneous populations that they identified as objects of knowledge, management, and change. These often violent processes of state formation...

Since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, conflict in the Middle East has been increasingly wrought with internal struggles, driven by ethnic, inter-communal, and religious differences. Islamic radicalism has grown as an internal threat, and foreign intervention is now a potential catalyst. Since 1990, the Middle East has twice witnessed the introduction of foreign armies, first to halt Iraqi expansionism, and more recently, to bring about...

"Lobbyist" tends to be used as a dirty word in politics. Indeed, during the 2008 presidential primary campaign, Hillary Clinton was derided for even suggesting that some lobbyists represent "real Americans." But although many popular commentators position interest groups as representatives of special--not "public"--Interests, much organized advocacy is designed to advance public interests and ideas. Advocacy organizations--more than 1,600 of them--are...

"This concise study reintroduces us to the history that shaped the founding fathers, the history that they made, and what history has made of them. It gives the reader a context within which to explore the world of the founding fathers and their complex and still-controversial achievements and legacies"--Provided by publisher.

"Dawisha traces the history of the Iraqi state from its inception in 1921 following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and up to the present day. He demonstrates how from the very beginning Iraq's ruling elites sought to unify this ethnically diverse and politically explosive society by developing state governance, fostering democratic institutions, and forging a national identity. Dawisha, who was born and raised in Iraq, gives rare insight into...

Sources of Turkeyʹs foreign policy behavior are often found in the ideological battle among four major ideological groups: secularist nationalism, Islamic nationalism, secular liberalism, and Islamic liberalism. Exploring the Ottoman origins of this ideological battle, this book moves on to discuss how rival identity groups competed to shape foreign policy in different periods of the Republican era. It traces the rise and decline of political parties...

From wiretapping American citizens to waterboarding foreign prisoners, the Bush administration has triggered an uproar over its tactics in the War on Terror--and over its justifications for using them. Through a close study of the legal advice provided to President Bush, former Justice Department attorney Harold Bruff provides an incisive and scathing critique of those justifications, which he finds at odds with both American law and moral authority....

Party Influence in Congress challenges current arguments and evidence about the influence of parties in the U.S. Congress. Political scientists differ in their evaluations of the influence of congressional parties over policy outcomes. Steven S. Smith reviews the arguments and finds them deficient in many respects. In their place, he offers an enriched, more nuanced view of the way parties influence the behavior of legislators and shape legislative...