"Democracy promotion has been an influential policy agenda in many Western states, international organisations, and amongst many NGO actors. But what kinds of models of democracy do democracy promoters promote? This book examines in detail the conceptual orders that underpin democracy support activity, and the conceptions of democracy that democracy promoters, consciously or inadvertently, work with. Such an examination is not only timely but much-needed in today's context of multiple democratic and financial crises. Contestation over democracy's meaning is returning, but how is this contestation reflected, if at all, in democracy promotion policies and practices?Seeking to open up debate on multiple models of democracy, this text provides the reader not only with the outlines of various possible politico-economic models of democracy, but also with a close empirical engagement with democracy promoters' discourses and practices. Drawing on a broad spectrum of examples, it exposes the challenges faced by Western governments in trying to reshape the political and economic landscape across the world and tentatively advances a set of concrete policy provocations which may enable a more, pluralist and flexible democracy promotion practice to emerge.This innovative new work will be essential reading for all students of democratization, democracy promotion and international relations"-- "This text explains the different models of democracy and the varied approaches taken by a number of international actors to promote (or impose) democratic and economic reform"--

"This report, prepared by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, brings together leading analysts in the scientific assessment of climate change, relevant social and economic policy and those who directly participate in international climate negotiations. The report provides a comprehensive understanding of the latest developments in the global response to climate change since the Copenhagen and Cancun climate conferences and Chinese actions in response, the results of these actions, the challenges that are still being faced, as well as China's long-term strategy in response to climate change. Part one focuses on the Chinese domestic policy response to climate change, including an analysis of the fulfilment of the energy conservation targets in the 11th Five Year Plan, pathways and policies to meet the 40%-45% target by 2020, China's adaptation strategy and policies, low carbon buildings, carbon sinks of forestry, public participation, and the low carbon city idea that the Shanghai World Expo has promoted. Part two includes thematic studies on some interesting hot topics, such as carbon tariff, indicators for assessment of low carbon cities, methodology for assessment of adaptation to climate change and cumulative carbon emissions. Finally, the annex includes key data on population, the economy, energy consumption and emissions by sector, as well as progress to meet 11th Five Year Plan energy conservation targets in each Chinese region. "-- "At the end of 2010 in the coast city, Cancun, Mexico, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) convened its 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16), which received another round of great attention from the whole world. This book calls together experienced experts with in-depth understanding on scientific assessment of climate change and relevant social and economic policies and senior experts who directly participate in the international climate negotiations. This will help the readers to better understand the upcoming Durban conference, as well as China's long-term strategy in response to climate change. This book includes researches on China's 12th Five year plan; pilot low carbon city actions; policies and pathways for China's national appropriate mitigation actions; China's forestry management; China's NGOs and climate change; low carbon expo in Shanghai China 2010; Carbon budget proposal; China's green economy and green jobs; China's reaction to carbon tariff; China's actions in adaptation approaches; China's accumulative carbon emissions, etc. This gives the readers a comprehensive understanding of the latest developments of China's actions in response to climate change, the results of these actions, and the challenges that are still being faced. China is becoming a raising star in global economical and political affairs. Both international society and China itself have great expectation to its future role. This book clarifies China's leading position in many aspects. However, limited to its development stage, natural resource endowment, and other unbalanced developing issues, China is still a developing country. This book reveals a real China to the audience, which can provide a more comprehensive solution to future global climate regime"--

"When an inexplicable wave of energy slammed into North America, millions died. In the rest of the world, wars erupted, borders vanished, and the powerful lost their grip on power. Against this backdrop, with a conflicted U.S. president struggling to make momentous decisions in Seattle and a madman fomenting rebellion in Texas, three women are fighting their own battles--for survival, justice, and revenge. Special agent Caitlin Monroe moves stealthily through a South American jungle. Her target: a former French official now held prisoner by a ruthless despot. To free the prisoner, Caitlin will kill anyone who gets in her way. And then she will get the truth about how a master terrorist escaped a secret detention center in French Guadeloupe to strike a fatal blow in New York City. Sofia Peiraro is a teenage girl who witnessed firsthand the murder and mayhem of Texas under the rule of General Mad Jack Blackstone. Sofia might have tried to build a life with her father in the struggling remnants of Kansas City--if a vicious murder hadn't set her on another course altogether: back to Texas, even to Blackstone himself. Julianne Balwyn is a British-born aristocrat turned smuggler. Shopping in the most fashionable neighborhood of Darwin, Australia--now a fantastic neo-urban frontier--Jules has a pistol holstered in the small of her lovely back. She is playing the most dangerous game of all: waiting for the person who is hunting her to show his face--so she can kill him first. Three women in three corners of a world plunged into electrifying chaos. Nation-states struggling for their survival. Immigrants struggling for new lives. John Birmingham's astounding new novel--the conclusion to the series begun in Without Warning and After America--is an intense adventure that races from the halls of power to shattered streets to gleaming new cities, as humanity struggles to grasp its better angels--and purge its worst demons"--

"A unique and revealing portrait of Saddam Hussein's Iraq which was every bit as authoritarian and brutal as Stalin's Russia or Mao's China"-- "The Ba'th Party came to power in 1968 and remained for thirty-five years, until the 2003 U.S. invasion. Under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, who became president of Iraq in 1979, a powerful authoritarian regime was created based on a system of violence and an extraordinary surveillance network, as well as reward schemes and incentives for supporters of the party. The true horrors of this regime have been exposed for the first time through a massive archive of government documents captured by the United States after the fall of Saddam Hussein. It is these documents that form the basis of this extraordinarily revealing book and that have been translated and analyzed by Joseph Sassoon, an Iraqi-born scholar and seasoned commentator on the Middle East. They uncover the secrets of the innermost workings of Hussein's Revolutionary Command Council, how the party was structured, how it operated via its network of informers, and how the system of rewards functioned. Saddam Hussein's authority was dominant. His decision was final, whether arbitrating the promotion of a junior official or the death of a rival or a member of his family. As this gripping portrayal of Saddam Hussein's Iraq demonstrates, the regime was every bit as authoritarian and brutal as Stalin's Soviet Union or Mao's China and some of the regimes in the Arab world who are witnessing upheavals, are not not dissimilar from the Ba'th regime"--