Countries and regions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have gone through several challenges. They went through totalitarian and authoritarian communist regimes, gained independence at the end of the 19th century, faced new economic and political challenges and rejoined Europe in a perspective of mutual development. As different as they may be, despite recent populist movements, the CEE countries have much in common and regional policies can help the "forgotten places" to explore their opportunities, supporting democracy, cohesion, and local economies in the European Union. Grzegorz Gorzelak is a professor of economics, specialising in regional and local development policies and strategy building. He has collaborated with the World Bank, the OECD, DG Regio of the European Commission, several agencies of the Polish and Ukrainian governments, as well as regional and local authorities. This is the fourteenth essay in the Big Ideas series created by the European Investment Bank.
Under the ambitious leadership of President Xi Jinping, China is zealously transforming its wealth and economic power into potent tools of global political influence. But China's foreign policy initiatives, even the vaunted "Belt and Road," will be shaped and redefined as they confront theground realities of local and regional politics outside China. In China's Western Horizon, Daniel S. Markey, a scholar of international relations and former member of the U.S. State Department's policy planning staff, previews how China's efforts are likely to play out in its own "backyard:" theswath of Eurasia that includes South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Drawing from his extensive interviews, travels, and historical research, Markey describes how perceptions of China vary widely within states like Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Iran.The region's powerful and privileged groups often expect to profit from their connections to China, while others fear commercial and political losses. Similarly, statesmen across Eurasia are scrambling to harness China's energy purchases, arms sales, and infrastructure investments as a means tooutdo their strategic competitors, like India and Saudi Arabia, while negotiating relations with Russia and America. On balance, Markey anticipates that China's deepening involvement will play to the advantage of regional strongmen and exacerbate the political tensions within and among Eurasianstates. To make the most of America's limited influence in China's backyard (and elsewhere), he argues that U.S. policymakers should pursue a selective and localized strategy to serve America's aims in Eurasia and to better compete with China over the long run.
How the interactions of non-elites influenced Athenian material culture and society The seventh century BC in ancient Greece is referred to as the Orientalizing period because of the strong presence of Near Eastern elements in art and culture. Conventional narratives argue that goods and knowledge flowed from East to West through cosmopolitan elites. Rejecting this explanation, Athens at the Margins proposes a new narrative of the origins behind the style and its significance, investigating how material culture shaped the ways people and communities thought of themselves. Athens and the region of Attica belonged to an interconnected Mediterranean, in which people, goods, and ideas moved in unexpected directions. Network thinking provides a way to conceive of this mobility, which generated a style of pottery that was heterogeneous and dynamic. Although the elite had power, they were unable to agree on the norms of conspicuous consumption and status display. A range of social actors used objects, contributing to cultural change and to the socially mediated production of meaning. Historiography and the analysis of evidence from a wide range of contexts—cemeteries, sanctuaries, workshops, and symposia—offers the possibility to step outside the aesthetic frameworks imposed by classical Greek masterpieces and to expand the canon of Greek art. Highlighting the results of new excavations and looking at the interactions of people with material culture, Athens at the Margins provocatively shifts perspectives on Greek art and its relationship to the eastern Mediterranean.
This book focuses on the interaction and mutual influences between the East and the West in terms of their legal systems and practices. In this regard, it highlights Professor Herbert H.P. Ma’s achievements and his efforts to bring Eastern and Western legal concepts and systems closer together. The book shows that, while there have been convergences between different legal regimes in many fields of law, diverse legal practices and approaches rooted in differing cultural, social, political and philosophical backgrounds do remain, and that these differences are not necessarily negative elements in the contemporary legal order. By examining different levels of the legal order, including domestic, regional and multilateral, it goes on to argue that identifying these diversities and addressing the interactions and mutual influences between different regimes is a worthwhile undertaking, not only in terms of mutual enrichment, but also with regard to intensifying the degree of desirable coordination between different legal systems. All chapters were written by leading experts, practitioners and scholars from different jurisdictions with expertise in various fields of law and different levels of the legal order, and discuss a number of issues with particular focus on either “one-way” or mutual influences between the Eastern and the Western legal systems, practices and philosophies.
Divided into three sections, the Handbook of US-Middle East Relations provides a thorough and up-to-date overview of contemporary US-Middle East relations in historical perspective. With chapters contributed by leading experts in the field, this Handbook will be of use to academics, students and researchers in international relations, policy analysts, media professionals and government officials. Part I: Factors Affecting US Relations contains essays including Globalization, Energy Security, Wars and Revolution, Peace Processes, US Foreign Aid Policy to the Middle East, and US Relations with Islamic Groups in the Middle East. Part II: Perceptions of US Relations contains essays on how US policies are viewed, including The View from the Arab Street, The View from Palestine, The View from Pakistan and The View from Kurdistan. Part III: US Relations at the Country Level comprise essays detailing relations between the USA and countries and areas in the Middle East and North Africa, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Algeria and Bahrain. A comprehensive index completes the volume.
This book provides a fresh and unique global perspective on the study of caravans by bringing together a wealth of up-to-date research that explores the similarities and divergences of caravan lifeways in Africa, Eurasia, the Near East, Southwest Asia, Mesoamerica, and the Andes. The volume presents theoretical frameworks for caravan assessment and intercultural caravan crossings, pushing the boundaries of caravan route history and archaeology to consider the emergence, evolution, maintenance, and adaptations of caravans. Drawing from anthropological, archaeological, historical, geographical, economic, social, political, and art historical perspectives, the volume will be attractive to scholars of these disciplines and beyond who are interested in social issues embedded on trade, travel, and nomadism. .
'Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata' is an inspired sharing at the appointed time. It shares for the First Time in the History of Pen-Paper-Pencil Epistemology those Manifest Truths which are being concealed historically from mankind in general. Due to concealment of Manifest Truth and Projection of Manmade Falsehoods within the domain of Epistemology by the International Criminals as well as their Agencies & Institutions, we [almost all save International Criminals] are far from clear concepts [Self-evident Truths] of Upright Rectangular Universe, Manifested Hexagonal World within Non-luminous Moon of the East Horizon, Appearing Pentagonal Earth, Sirius Binary System [Trinity], Three Ascending Stair Ways, Four Cardinal Directions in resemblance with Four Basic Forces & in correspondence with Crucified Sign, Equal & Opposite Manifested Sign of Sole Magnetism [Two Clear Proofs] from North to South & South to North, Equal & Opposite Moons [Uranus & Neptune] of the Equal & Opposite Zones, Right Direction of performing Salat [Namaz] facing each other towards Upright West [Arsh], appointed day of observing Idd uniformly, Upright West Region of the Appointed Kaba, Straight Middle-East Region of Bermuda Triangle, existential imports of Nine Tokens given to Muusaa (ass) i.e. projected nine planets, and the like. It is self-evident that we know nothing after having known much due to Projected Epistemology. Consequently, we are living under Man-made Nature and are fighting to liberate animals from Manifested Nature. Each searched out Manifest Truth shared in the Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata will appear either contrary or contradictory to uncountable pen-paper-pencil works and mechanical activities prevailing in the History of Projected Epistemology. Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata published by Partridge Publishing, 2016, is the first pen-paper-pencil work [self-published book] in the History of Epistemology which not only explores with experimentum crusis and crucial instances the Trinity of Manifest Hypocrisy Teleological Evidence Sorcery Extreme Epistemic Persecution, 6310 Conspiracy Commentaries of the researchers of IFTA on Quran in resemblance with Introduced Manmade Magnetism & Invented Circular Rotation & Revolution System of NASA, Nexus of Self-evident Plagiarisms prevailing in the so-called research works etc. but also shares Manifest Truth [Injiil in correspondence with Tawraat] with reference to verifiable truth of facts [Real Science] and justifiable necessary truth [True Philosophy]. As 'Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata' shares Irreversible Manifest Truth searched out on the basis of Four Revealed & Established Criiterions [Units / Scales] of Truth in resemblance with Universal Major Premises [Coded Shared Tautologies], so, it is beyond scepticism. Sceptics of Irreversible Manifest Truth are instructed to commit Suicide. Projected impact factors, API Points, pentagonal star marks, citations, criticisms, critical remarks, critical reviews, commentaries, Peter Singers concept of liberation, John Rawls Veil of Ignorance, John Lockes Tabula Rasa, Copernican Universal Mal-observation, Keplers Elliptical Axis, Astronomy, Mysticism, Spiritualism, Sufism, Rucksack of According to etc. have no existential imports with respect to searched out Irreversible Manifest Truth shared in the Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata. On the contrary, Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata has proclaimed Greatest War or Jihade-Akbar against International Criminals who have concealed Manifest Truth from the domain of education and have projected Manmade Falsehoods as Manifest Truth within the domain of Education in the name of Scientific Certainty. So, Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata rightly deserves verification, justification, recognition, and confirmation of the searched out Manifest Truth [Injiil in correspondence with Tawraat] for the Sanctity of Education, Utilitarian Liberation, Survival of the Truest. If the possessors of Balanced Good Sense are able to point out lacunae in the Logical Thread of the searched out Manifest Truth with reference to criterions of truth and in resemblance with at least one Universal Major Premise [Coded Shared Tautology], the sharer of 'Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata' will try to research Manifest Truth from that pointed lacunae. In this regard, the sharer of 'Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata' places 'Justifiable Appeal' before all to reject or to recognize the searched out Manifest Truth shared in his book for the First Time in the History of pen-paper-pencil Epistemology. Further, going through Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata, each possessor of Balanced Good Sense will be able to recognise International Criminals as well as their Equal & Opposite games with Faith & Belief of Mankind in general and particularly with the equal & opposite Right Path towards Upright West & appointed Day of observing Idd uniformly. It is certain like Cogito Ergo Sum of Rene Descartes that the Day when the capability of the possessors of Balanced Good Sense to Approach Justness will manifest openly and publicly, that Day Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata will get triumph over projected falsehoods. Expecting Justness from the Respective Authorities, Honourable Chairs, Epistemic Persons, Educated People, Possessors of Balanced Good Sense, and Mankind in general with searched out Manifest Truth and Solidified Solid Human Rights shared in the Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata, Jamir Ahmed Choudhury Sharer of 'Kitaaba Wal-Hikmata' or 'Manifested Nature and the Utility of One's Upright Logic' Published by Partridge Publishing, 5th August, 2016 ISBN (13) - 9781482875034 / ISBN (13) - 9781482875027 ISBN (10) - 1482875039 / ISBN (10) - 1482875020 ASIN - B01LFG1B82 / EAN - 9781482875034 OCLC - 956692563
