Author: Tim Judah File Type: pdf On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence, becoming the seventh state to emerge from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. A tiny country of just two million people, 90% of whom are ethnic Albanians, Kosovo is central-geographically, historically, and politically-to the future of the Western Balkans and, in turn, its potential future within the European Union. But the fate of both Kosovo, condemned by Serbian leaders as a fake state and the region as a whole, remains uncertain. In Kosovo What Everyone Needs to Know?, Tim Judah provides a straight-forward guide to the complicated place that is Kosovo. Judah, who has spent years covering the region, offers succinct, penetrating answers to a wide range of questions Why is Kosovo important? Who are the Albanians? Who are the Serbs? Why is Kosovo so important to Serbs? What role does Kosovo play in the region and in the world? Judah reveals how things stand now and presents the history and geopolitical dynamics that have led to it. The most important of these is the question of the right to self-determination, invoked by the Kosovo Albanians, as opposed to right of territorial integrity invoked by the Serbs. For many Serbs, Kosovos declaration of independence and subsequent recognition has been traumatic, a savage blow to national pride. Albanians, on the other hand, believe their independence rights an historical wrong the Serbian conquest (Serbs say liberation) of Kosovo in 1912. For anyone wishing to understand both the history and possible future of Kosovo at this pivotal moment in its history, this book offers a wealth of insight and information in a uniquely accessible format. What Everyone Needs to Know? is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press. **Amazon.com Review h4WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW About This Seriesh4 h4Who its forh4 Busy people with diverse interests, ranging from college students to professionals, who wish to inform themselves in a succinct yet authoritative manner about a particular topic. h4Whats insideh4 An incisive approach to a complex and timely issue, laid out in a straight-forward, question-and-answer format. h4Meet Our Authorsh4 Top experts in their given fields, ranging from an Economist correspondent to a director at the Council on Foreign Relations, you can trust our authors expertise and guidance. h4Popular Topics in the What Everyone Needs to Know Seriesh4 ul lInternational Politicsl lEnvironmental Policiesl lWorld Historyl lSciences & Mathl lReligion & Spiritualityl ul From School Library Journal Judah, a correspondent for the Economist who has covered the Balkans during years of great change and upheaval, takes up the daunting challenge of explaining Kosovosand its regionshistory to a novice reader. His emphasis is on the past 20 years, with enough about earlier years to explain issues that linger. The small state of Kosovo, with its predominantly ethnic Albanian population, declared independence from Serbia earlier this year. The relationship between Albanians and Serbs has been a complex dance of changing allies and hegemons, as well as continuing animosity, with refugee populations frequently stranded on the wrong side of a changed border. Judah does a commendable job of telling the dense story in an understandable fashion. Because the region changes so quickly, an up-to-date history like this is welcome. Readers seeking a more in-depth treatment will be well served by Miranda Vickerss Between Serb and Albanian A History of Kosovo, now ten years old, or Paul Hockenoss more recent Homeland Calling Exile Patriotism and the Balkan Wars. Suitable for popular collections.Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Author: Colin B. Burke File Type: pdf This book narrates the development of science, scitech, and intelligence information systems and technologies in the United States from the beginning of World War II to the second decade of our century. The story ranges from a description of the information systems and machines of the 1940s created at Wild Bill Donovans predecessors of the Central Intelligence Agency, to the rise of a huge international science information industry, and to the 1990s Open Access-Open Culture reformers reactions to the commercialization of science information. Necessarily, there is much about the people, cultures, and politics that shaped the methods, systems, machines and protests. The reason for that is simple The histories of technologies and methods are human histories. Science informations many lives were shaped by idiosyncrasies and chance, as well as by social, economic, political and technical forces.The varied motives, personalities and beliefs of unique and extraordinary people fashioned science informations past. The important players ranged from a gentleman scholar who led the Office of Strategic Services information work, to an ill-fated Hollywood movie director, to life-mavericks like the science information legend Eugene Garfield, to international financial wheeler-dealers such as Robert Maxwell, and to youthful ultra-liberal ideologically-driven Silicon Valley internet millionaires. However, although there are no determining laws of information history, social, political, legal and economic factors were important. After 1940, science informations tools and policies, as well as Americas universities, were being molded by the nations wealth, its role in international affairs, the stand-off between left and right politics, and by the intensifying conflict between Soviet and Western interests. **

Author: Mary de Young, File Type: pdf

Author: Jeffrey A. Schaler File Type: pdf As it entered the 1960s, American institutional psychiatry was thriving, with a high percentage of medical students choosing the field. But after Thomas S. Szasz published his masterwork in 1961, The Myth of Mental Illness, the psychiatric world was thrown into chaos. Szasz enlightened the world about what he called the myth of mental illness. His point was not that no one is mentally ill, or that people labeled as mentally ill do not exist. Instead he believed that diagnosing people as mentally ill was inconsistent with the rules governing pathology and the classification of disease. He asserted that the diagnosis of mental illness is a type of social control, not medical science. The editors were uniquely close to Szasz, and here they gather, for the first time, a group of their peersexperts on psychiatry, psychology, rhetoric, and semioticsto elucidate Szaszs body of work. Thomas S. Szasz The Man and His Ideas examines his work and legacy, including new material on the man himself and the seeds he planted. They discuss Szaszs impact on their thinking about the distinction between physical and mental illness, addiction, the insanity plea, schizophrenia, and implications for individual freedom and responsibility. This important volume offers insight into and understanding of a man whose ideas were far beyond his time. **About the Author Jeffrey A. Schaler is a psychologist in private practice, author, and a former full-time professor at American Universitys School of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. Henry Zvi Lothane is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, N.Y., and a psychoanalyst renowned for his books on Daniel Paul Schreber and papers on Sabina Spielrein. Richard E. Vatz is a professor of communication at Towson University in Maryland. He has published hundreds of academic pieces, as well as a cutting-edge book on rhetoric, and works as a political commentator for various media.