Author: Mary Thompson-Jones File Type: epub A former American diplomat reveals a disconnect between Washington policymakers and those who work in US embassies.When the world awoke on November 28, 2010, and read the first of the 251,287 State Department cables made public by WikiLeaks, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned, It will be the September 11th of world diplomacy. The WikiLeaks scandal certainly stirred tempers around the world, but it was not the implosion that many leaders expected rather, it shed a new spotlight on the work of the U.S. foreign service. In To the Secretary, Mary Thompson-Jones explores the most fascinating and overlooked of these cables to offer an unparalleled window into the day-to-day work of U.S. diplomats, demystifying the lives of those who implement Americas foreign policy across the globe.From the story of Bulgarias Aleksi the Tractor Petrov to disappearing ballot ink in Ukraine, a Honduran coup detat, or disaster relief for a devastated Haiti, To the Secretary depicts the work of ambassadors and foreign service officers through their firsthand narratives dealing with crises, corruption, and testy world leaders. Negotiating distinctly un-American customs and corridors of power, these shrewd brokers in embassies from Argentina to Zimbabwe worked tirelessly to promote American diplomacy in a world frequently hostile to the United States.To the Secretary also reveals the disconnect that diplomats face at home, guided by conflicting approaches from multiple Washington stakeholders intent on their own agenda, often unaware of realities on the ground. In an honest assessment of Americas foreign policy challenges, Thompson-Jones describes the deepening gulf between decision makers in Washington and their diplomats in the field. From misinterpreted analyses of anti-Americanism to Washingtons unwillingness to send resources to support diplomatic activities that could make a difference, To the Secretary shows what policymakers can learn from diplomats abroadand how this can strengthen Americas place in an unstable world.hr**ReviewMary Thompson-Jones has used the trove of WikiLeaks cables to provide a fascinating account of how diplomacy really works from the bottom up. (Joseph Nye, Harvard University, author of Is the American Century Over?) Mary Thompson-Jones joined the foreign service in early 1989, one of the most fascinating moments in recent world history. With To the Secretary, Thompson-Jones gives us a through-the-keyhole view of high-stakes diplomacy, the quiet drama of secret cables, and the endlessly fascinating real-world problems that diplomats on the front lines of conflict zones and backstage political battles face every day. Via the WikiLeaks scandal, Thompson-Jones illustrates emergency responses within the foreign service and the role it played in steadying a teetering tower of foreign policy secrets. (Ian Bremmer, president, Eurasia Group) For students of diplomacy, and also for diplomats themselves, the WikiLeaks documents including reports from U.S. foreign service officers was a fortunate revelation. Whatever the embarrassment they caused, they demonstrate, as Mary Thompson-Jones masterfully shows in her expert and fair analysis, why American foreign policy should be, but too often is not, shaped by the perspectives, knowledge, and perceptions of experienced diplomats in the field. (Alan K. Henrikson, director of diplomatic studies, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University) This amazing book should be on the reading list of every course on international relations, diplomacy, and U.S. foreign policy. Beautifully written by an experienced diplomat, it brings to life actual challenges that officials at American embassies face daily, by presenting revealing quotes from 251,287 leaked telegrams on subjects ranging from crises to corruption. (Ambassador (ret.) William A. Rugh, Tufts University) About the Author Mary Thompson-Jones, director of the global studies and international relations program at Northeastern University, was a career diplomat and foreign policy practitioner in the U.S. Department of State for twenty-three years. She lives in Boston.

Author: Gary Wilson File Type: pdf When high speed internet became widely available a few years ago, growing numbers of people began to worry that their porn use was running out of control. Far from preparing them for fulfilling relationships, viewing an endless stream of porn videos led to unexpected symptoms. Perhaps most surprisingly, for the first time in history erectile dysfunction was becoming a significant problem for young men. This led to one of the largest informal experiments in the history of science. Tens of thousands of people have tried abstaining from sexually stimulating material in a process they call rebooting. Many of them reported startling changes, from improved concentration and elevated mood to a greater capacity for real-life intimacy. Gary Wilson has listened to the stories of those who have tried giving up internet porn and related them to an account of how the reward system of the brain interacts with its environment. And now a growing body of research in neuroscience is confirming what these pioneers have discovered for themselves - internet pornography can be seriously addictive and damaging. In Your Brain on Porn Wilson provides a concise introduction to the phenomenon of internet porn addiction that draws on both first-person accounts and the findings of cognitive neuroscience. In a voice that is generous and humane, he also offers advice for those who want to stop using internet pornography. The publication of Your Brain on Porn is a landmark in our attempts to understand, and remain balanced in, a world where addiction is big business.**About the Author He currently works on fMRI imaging of attention and perception at Washington University

Author: Hanna Holborn Gray File Type: pdf A compelling memoir by the first woman president of a major American university Hanna Holborn Gray has lived her entire life in the world of higher education. The daughter of academics, she fled Hitlers Germany with her parents in the 1930s, emigrating to New Haven, where her father was a professor at Yale University. She has studied and taught at some of the worlds most prestigious universities. She was the first woman to serve as provost of Yale. In 1978, she became the first woman president of a major research university when she was appointed to lead the University of Chicago, a position she held for fifteen years. In 1991, Gray was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor, in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to education. An Academic Life is a candid self-portrait by one of academias most respected trailblazers. Gray describes what it was like to grow up as a child of refugee parents, and reflects on the changing status of women in the academic world. She discusses the migration of intellectuals from Nazi-held Europe and the transformative role these exiles played in American higher education--and how the emigre experience in America transformed their own lives and work. She sheds light on the character of university communities, how they are structured and administered, and the balance they seek between tradition and innovation, teaching and research, and undergraduate and professional learning. An Academic Life speaks to the fundamental issues of purpose, academic freedom, and governance that arise time and again in higher education, and that pose sharp challenges to the independence and scholarly integrity of each new generation. **

Author: Alina Bârgaoanu File Type: pdf This publication tackles strategies for bridging the widening gap between the EU and its citizens. It focuses on new theoretical and empirical frameworks about EU media frames and narratives, political discourse and citizens perceptions in order to promote a critical, yet constructive approach to the role of communication in the process of European integration. It has been acknowledged that the least problem the EU has is a communication problem. Communication is largely ineffective against a rising sentiment of injustice and inequality among increasingly diverse national, social and political groupings across the EU. Therefore, the authors underline how EU communication and EU public sphere can shape common representations of what can unite us as Europeans. **About the Author Alina Bargaoanu is a Communication Scholar and Dean of the College of Communication and Public Relations (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest). She is the President of the Management Board at the European Institute of Romania, President of the ECREA Temporary Working Group Communication and the European Public Sphere and EU Communication and the European Public Sphere Jean Monnet chair holder. Raluca Buturoiu is an Assistant Lecturer at the College of Communication and Public Relations (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration). She holds a PhD in Communication Sciences, with a thesis about mass communication effects. Her research interests cover communication theories, agenda-setting, framing and the (European) public sphere. Loredana Radu is an Associate Professor and Head of the Communication Department at the College of Communication and Public Relations (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration). She is the Director of the Center for EU Communication Studies and coordinator of the Jean Monnet teaching module Patterns of Europeanization in Central and Eastern Europe.