Presents post-apartheid South Africa as a country caught between a democratic future and a political meltdown: “a teetering nation whose destiny will determine the fate of a continent.” Reflects on the role and point of view of the emerging black elite and ordinary citizens by drawing on hundreds of interviews over a six-year period.

(POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA * SOUTH AFRICA)

In Latin America and Eastern Europe, transition to democracy was accompanied by distinct efforts to come to terms with traumatic experiences of the past and demand accountability from the oppressors. Analyzes and reveals the effectiveness of various accountability mechanisms to find that, while there are many different paths to truth and justice, all depend on continued efforts in order to reach them. In many cases these efforts create favorable conditions for the development of a resilient human rights culture.

(TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE * HUMAN RIGHTS)

The Cuban economy has been transformed over the course of the last decade, and these changes are likely to accelerate. Suggests steps for Cuba to reactivate economic growth and improve the welfare of its citizens; focuses on trade, capital inflows, exchange rates, monetary and fiscal policies, and the agricultural sector, and maps how reforms in economic and social policies have produced declines in the social standing of some specific groups and economic mobility for others. (also as e-book)

(CUBA)

Much of Pakistan operates under the de facto rule of indigenous, “Pakistani” Taliban. But instead of dealing with this precarious situation, the country’s remaining military and intelligence apparatus stays focused on a proxy military war with India. This contest had done irreparable harm to Pakistan’s economy, impoverishing many of its people while fattening the military “state within a state elite.” Key themes: 1) mistreatment of ordinary Pakistanis by military and civilian rulers, 2) the steady decline of citizens’ material circumstances over the past 20 years, and 3) the grand strategic designs of Islamabad and Washington that continue to undermine Pakistani political life. Samad illuminates five key contemporary players: Pakistan’s people, its army, its Islamists, and its politicians, as well as the American forces struggling to maintain stability. The alliances born of political and strategic expediency continually undermine the legitimacy of the state. Samad also addresses the extent to which the nation’s very existence is now in jeopardy.

(PAKISTAN * REGIONS/NATIONS)

The failure of rebuilding Afghanistan has been frequently explained by hostile regional, national, and international actions; however, the international project to reconstruct Afghanistan contains serious tensions and contradictions which have significantly impeded progress and eventually created an extreme version of a rentier state, extensively weak, corrupt, and unaccountable. US-led military operations have undercut the peacebuilding agenda, and increased international aid and monitoring has only led to Afghan resentment and evasion. Proposes a less intrusive international presence, recommends a longer time-frame for carrying out reconstruction and change, and calls for negotiations with militants to end the war in favor of a more Afghan-directed order.

(AFGHANISTAN)

What is the nature and the extent of rights owed to the Palestinians? The response assumes three overlapping premises: 1) that contemporary Palestine is the site of an ongoing project of settler colonization; 2) that its global importance is increasing in inverse proportion to the amount of territory actually controlled by the Palestinians; and 3) that the supposedly local struggle over Palestinian rights in fact reflects global processes such as colonization, securitization, acceleration, and occupation.

(PALESTINE)

The US regards Russia’s renewed assertiveness as a global competition issue, while Europe is concerned about its supply of oil and gas. Where the US may pursue confrontation in regard to Russia, Europe is more likely to operate with conciliation. Develops a framework for future US-Europe relations by discussing the principal areas of concern, and identifies commonalities and differences in the two region’s economic aims, political habits, and cultural history.

(REGIONS/NATIONS * TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS: U.S.-EUROPE)

An idealized version of China’s imperial past now inspires a new generation of Chinese scholars and policymakers and their plans for China’s future. Chinese and western scholars explore how traditional Chinese culture is being remolded into a “Chinese-style” world order for the 21st century.

(WORLD FUTURES * CHINA)

In the 1970s and 1980s, European governments excluded Islam from domestic institutions. But since the 1990s, amid rising integration problems and fears about terrorism, governments have stepped up efforts to reach out to their Muslim communities and incorporate them into the institutional, political, and cultural fabrics of European democracy. Draws on interviews with government officials and religious leaders in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Morocco, and Turkey to challenge the view that Europe’s Muslim minorities represent a threat to liberal democracy.

(EUROPE’S MUSLIMS * MUSLIMS IN EUROPE)

In the 1970s and 1980s, European governments excluded Islam from domestic institutions. But since the 1990s, amid rising integration problems and fears about terrorism, governments have stepped up efforts to reach out to their Muslim communities and incorporate them into the institutional, political, and cultural fabrics of European democracy. Draws on interviews with government officials and religious leaders in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Morocco, and Turkey to challenge the view that Europe’s Muslim minorities represent a threat to liberal democracy.

(EUROPE’S MUSLIMS * MUSLIMS IN EUROPE)