Author: Haruko Hosoda File Type: pdf Cubas Fidel Castro and Spains Francisco Franco were two men with very similar backgrounds but very different political ideologies. Both received a Catholic education and had strong connections to the Galicia region of Spain. Both were familiar with guerrilla tactics and came to power through fighting civil wars. However, Franco had support from fascists, who fought a vicious campaign against communist guerrillas, whereas Cuba was strategically aligned with the USSR after the revolution. The two countries nevertheless maintained strong relations, notably keeping a formal diplomatic relationship after the 1959 Cuban revolution despite the United States severing of ties to Cuba. This relationship, Hosoda argues, would remain a vital back channel for communication between Cuba and the West. Using a mixture of primary and secondary sources, derived from Cuban, American and Spanish archives, Hosoda analyses the nature and wider role of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Spain during the Cold War. Addressing both the question of how this relationship was forged whether through the personal strange amity of their leaders, mutual animosity toward the U.S., or the alignment of national interests and the importance of the role that it played. Considering also the role of the Vatican, this book offers a fascinating insight into a rarely studied aspect of the Cold War, one that transcends the usual East-West binaries.About the Author Haruko Hosoda is Professor in the College of Commerce at Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan. She is also a former diplomat.

Author: Jean Pierre Vernant File Type: pdf Jean-Pierre Vernant delineates a compelling new vision of ancient Greece that takesus far from the calm and familiar images of Polykleitos and the Parthenon, and reveals a culture ofslavery, of blood sacrifice, of perpetual and ritualized warfare, of ceremonial hunting andecstasies.In his provocative discussions of various institutions and practices including war,marriage, and the city state, Vernant unveils a complex and previously unexplored intersection ofthe religious, social, and political structures of ancient Greece. He concludes with a genealogy ofthe study of myth from antiquity to the present, and offers a critique of structuralism.Jean-PierreVernant is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Study of Ancient Religions at the College de France inParis. Jean-Pierre Vernant delineates a compelling new vision of ancient Greece that takes us far from the calm and familiar images of Polykleitos and the Parthenon, and reveals a culture of slavery, of blood sacrifice, of perpetual and ritualized warfare, of ceremonial hunting and ecstasies.In his provocative discussions of various institutions and practices including war, marriage, and the city state, Vernant unveils a complex and previously unexplored intersection of the religious, social, and political structures of ancient Greece. He concludes with a genealogy of the study of myth from antiquity to the present, and offers a critique of structuralism.Jean-Pierre Vernant is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Study of Ancient Religions at the College de France in Paris.

Author: James Harris File Type: pdf Stalins Terror of the 1930s has long been a popular subject for historians. However, while for decades, historians were locked in a narrow debate about the degree of central control over the terror process, recent archival research is underpinning new, innovative approaches and opening new perspectives. Historians have begun to explore the roots of the Terror in the heritage of war and mass repression in the late Imperial and early Soviet periods in the regimes focus not just on former oppositionists, wreckers and saboteurs, but also on crime and social disorder and in the common European concern to identify and isolate undesirable elements. Recent studies have examined in much greater depth and detail the precipitants and triggers that turned a determination to protect the Revolution into a ferocious mass repression. The Anatomy of Terror is an edited volume which brings together the work of the leading historians in the field, presenting not only the latest developments in the subject, but also the latest evolution of the debate. The sixteen chapters are divided into eight themes, with some themes reflecting the diversity of sources, methodologies and angles of approach, others showing stark differences of opinion. This opens up the field of study to further research, and this volume will proof indispensable for historians of political violence and of the era of Stalinist Terror.

Author: Bernard Reginster File Type: pdf Among all the great thinkers of the past two hundred years, Nietzsche continues to occupy a special place--not only for a broad range of academics but also for members of a wider public, who find some of their most pressing existential concerns addressed in his works. Central among these concerns is the question of the meaning of a life characterized by inescapable suffering, at a time when the traditional responses inspired by Christianity are increasingly losing their credibility. While most recent studies of Nietzsches works have lost sight of this fundamental issue, Bernard Reginsters bookThe Affirmation of Lifebrings it sharply into focus.Reginster identifies overcoming nihilism as a central objective of Nietzsches philosophical project, and shows how this concern systematically animates all of his main ideas. In particular, Reginsters work develops an original and elegant interpretation of the will to power, which convincingly explains how Nietzsche uses this doctrine to mount a critique of the dominant Christian values, to overcome the nihilistic despair they produce, and to determine the conditions of a new affirmation of life. Thus, Reginster attributes to Nietzsche a compelling substantive ethical outlook based on the notions of challenge and creativity--an outlook that involves a radical reevaluation of the role and significance of suffering in human existence.Replete with deeply original insights on many familiar--and frequently misunderstood--Nietzschean concepts, Reginsters book will be essential to anyone approaching this towering figure of Western intellectual history.**ReviewFor Reginster, Nietzsches central motivating problem is the problem of nihilism, a problem caused by the death of God. His argument then dissects nihilism into two distinct problems on the one hand, the problem of disorientation, the sense we have that our highest values lack metaphysical grounding or justification and, on the other, the problem of despair, our sense that our highest values are unrealizable in this world. Reginster argues that the nihilism of disorientation has to be faced and answered before one can grapple with (or indeed be seized by) despair. It is only when we have restored to ourselves a sense of the worth of these values, by some successful answer to the problem of disorientation, that we can feel the full force of the problem of despair. The problem of disorientation, Reginster then argues, is successfully solved by Nietzsche through his doctrine of perspectivism, understood as the idea that all our reasons are contingent. Nietzsche argues that the existence of contingent perspectives is a necessary condition for any practical reasoning, and therefore cannot possibly spell the downfall of our aspirations to find reasons. Reginster then turns to the despair problem, showing the depth of Nietzsches engagement with Schopenhauers pessimism. Offering the most philosophically serious and interesting discussion of Schopenhauer I have seen in the literature, he then argues that the doctrine of the Will to Power is Nietzsches response. Instead of seeking satisfaction, Nietzsche argues, we basically seek the overcoming of resistance. If this is so, we ought to will the continued existence of suffering (understood as the effect of resistance to our will), so that we have struggles still to win. --Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, University of Chicago Heidegger suggested a half-century ago that the problem of nihilism and the doctrine of the will to power were central to Nietzsches philosophy, but only now, thanks to Reginsters elegantly crafted study, do we have a penetrating and systematic philosophical exposition of these themes and their interrelation. A particularly welcome feature of this new study is the way in which it situates the Nietzschean doctrines against the background of Schopenhauers ideas and arguments in so doing, it teaches the reader quite a lot about Schopenhauer and, in the process, sheds interesting new light on well-known ideas of Nietzsches. --Brian Leiter, University of Texas at Austin Reginster focuses on a central aspect of Nietzsches thought--the threat of nihilism and the conditions under which life can be affirmed. Reginster is the first to reconstruct Nietzsches position on nihilism systematically, and his book will set the terms of the debate on this crucial issue for a long time. Reginsters convincing case for the coherence and systematicity of Nietzsches thought goes against the grain of most contemporary interpretations, which see Nietzsches thought as radically (and intentionally) fragmented, contradictory, and hostile to rationality and traditional philosophy. Reginsters most important contribution is his exposition of Nietzsches doctrine of the will to power, which he grounds in a thorough and philosophical reading of Schopenhauer. In sum--a great book! --Frederick Neuhouser, Professor of Philosophy and Viola Manderfeld Professor of German, Barnard College Through an analysis of his main philosophical ideas, like the will to power and eternal recurrence, Reginster presents the structure of Nietzsches affirmation of life, which is based on overcoming resistance and despair. With lucid writing and a superb examination of his works, Reginster succeeds in presenting a coherent interpretation of Nietzsches philosophy. --Scott Duimstra (Library Journal 2006-03-15) A well written and thoughtful book...Impressive and provocative...The argumentation is clear, persuasive, and innovative...The discussion of existing interpretations (those of Clark, Kaufmann, Lowith, Nehamas, and several others) is exemplary it is careful and tranquil, thoughtful and engaging. --Nectarios G. Limnatis (Review of Metaphysics 2007-09-01) About the Author Bernard Reginster is Associate Professor of Philosophy, Brown University.