A Contest of Civilizations

A Contest of Civilizations

Author: Andrew F. Lang

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2020-11-24

Total Pages: 569

ISBN-13: 1469660083

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Most mid-nineteenth-century Americans regarded the United States as an exceptional democratic republic that stood apart from a world seemingly riddled with revolutionary turmoil and aristocratic consolidation. Viewing themselves as distinct from and even superior to other societies, Americans considered their nation an unprecedented experiment in political moderation and constitutional democracy. But as abolitionism in England, economic unrest in Europe, and upheaval in the Caribbean and Latin America began to influence domestic affairs, the foundational ideas of national identity also faced new questions. And with the outbreak of civil war, as two rival governments each claimed the mantle of civilized democracy, the United States' claim to unique standing in the community of nations dissolved into crisis. Could the Union chart a distinct course in human affairs when slaveholders, abolitionists, free people of color, and enslaved African Americans all possessed irreconcilable definitions of nationhood? In this sweeping history of political ideas, Andrew F. Lang reappraises the Civil War era as a crisis of American exceptionalism. Through this lens, Lang shows how the intellectual, political, and social ramifications of the war and its meaning rippled through the decades that followed, not only for the nation's own people but also in the ways the nation sought to redefine its place on the world stage.


Civilization and Its Contents

Civilization and Its Contents

Author: Bruce Mazlish

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 0804750831

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Civilization" is a constantly invoked term. It is used by both politicians and scholars. How useful, in fact, is this term? Civilization and Its Contents traces the origins of the concept in the eighteenth century. It shows its use as a colonial ideology, and then as a support for racism. The term was extended to a dead society, Egyptian civilization, and was appropriated by Japan, China, and Islamic countries. This latter development lays the groundwork for the contemporary call for a "dialogue of civilizations." The author proposes instead that today the use of the term "civilization" has a global meaning, with local variants recognized as cultures. It may be more appropriate, however, to abandon the name "civilization" and to focus on a new understanding of the civilizing process.


The New Clash of Civilizations

The New Clash of Civilizations

Author: Minhaz Merchant

Publisher: Rainlight

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 9788129129901

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A compelling amalgam of new writing and published essays by Minhaz Merchant, The New Clash of Civilizations offers deep and stimulating insights into how the contest between four major civilizational forces-the United States, China, India and Islam-will shape our century. The historic shift in the economic and geopolitical balance of power from the West to the East, Merchant writes, will determine the ideas and principles that govern this unfolding century. Divided into six distinct sections-History, Nation, World, Leaders, Science & Society, and Vintage-the book provides an original perspective on a dynamic nation coming to terms with itself and the world. In politics and science, history and economics, India's place in an increasingly competitive global order-and its interaction with the other three major civilizational strands-forms a cornerstone of the book's narrative. Broad in sweep and range, The New Clash of Civilizations is a lucid and brilliant account of the ebb and flow of power in the twenty-first century.


The Rings of Allah

The Rings of Allah

Author: Lee Boyland

Publisher: Booklocker.Com Incorporated

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 9781621418054

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Rogue KGB officers find five Soviet nuclear test devices and sell them to al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda Jihadists Mohammed and Ralph Eid devise a plan to hide them in American cities - to be bin Laden's grand finale after 9/11. Bin Laden goes into hiding and Mohammed takes the operation to Iran who authorizes it, starts a worldwide jihad, and establishes the new caliphate. Retired Air Force Major General Alexander must stop the plan if he can.


Civilization and Beyond

Civilization and Beyond

Author: Scott Nearing

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2019-12-17

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Civilization and Beyond is a history book by Scott Nearing. Nearing was an American radical economist, educator and writer. Excerpt: "Thousands of years before the city of Rome was ringed with its six miles of stone wall, other peoples in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa were building civilizations. New techniques of excavation, identification and preservation, subsidized by an increasingly affluent human society, and developed during the past two centuries of archeological research have provided the needed means and manpower. The result is an imposing number of long buried building sites with their accompanying artifacts. Still more important are the records written in long forgotten languages on stone, clay tablets, metal, wood and paper. These remnants and records, left by extinguished civilizations, do not tell us all we wish to know, but they do provide the materials which enable us to reconstruct, at least in part, the lives of our civilized predecessors."


Global Issues in the Context of Space

Global Issues in the Context of Space

Author: Jean Kachiga

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2016-08-24

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1498502563

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Global Issues in the Context of Spaces examines globalization using the concept of space to contextualize discussion of global issues. The manuscript uses the concept of space to contextualize global issues because spaces are the theater of human activity. Global issues result from specific dynamics emerging between people and their activities within specific spaces. The growth of population, the increase of human activity, and the usage of new spaces explain the complexity and challenges of global issues today.


Soft Power and Great-Power Competition

Soft Power and Great-Power Competition

Author: Joseph S. Nye

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-04-26

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 9819907144

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This open access book consists of essays selected from Joseph S. Nye, Jr.’s last three decades of writing and illustrate a variety of perspectives on the nature of power, the role of the United States in the world and US-China relations. Through this collection, it is hoped that readers will gain a better understanding of today’s global environment and find that while great power competition may be inevitable in a world as centers of power shift, cooperating to address transnational challenges can be a positive sum game. The contents of this book are divided into four main parts. Part One discusses the origins and political progress of the concept of “Soft Power”. Part Two explores soft power in the American experience, its sources and interaction with US foreign policy, as well as its ebb and flow in the age of Obama, Trump and Biden. Part Three examines the rise of and the opportunities and difficulties for Chinese soft power, focusing on China’s investment in soft power and how this demonstrates its commitment to a peaceful rise. However, it also addresses the question of how can China get “smart” on how it uses soft power. Part Four provides a bird’s-eye view of power shifts in the 21st century and the interactions between the US as an established power and China as a rising power, while also reassuring readers that Thucydidean fears are unnecessary and a Cold War is avoidable. Both countries have to realize that some forms of power must be exercised with others, not over others, the development of soft power need not be a zero-sum game. Ultimately, the US-China relationship is a “cooperative rivalry” where a successful strategy of “smart competition” is necessary and cooperation on transnational challenges like climate change, pandemics, cyberterrorism and nuclear proliferation, will serve to benefit not only China and the US, but the world as a whole.