Looking for information on the current situation between Russia and Ukraine? See the resources below provided by Dr. Cadra McDaniel, TAMUCT Assistant Professor of History who specializes in Russian, Soviet, and post-Soviet culture and politics, and Dr. John Koehler, TAMUCT Assistant Professor of Political Science & Public Administration, for a variety of perspectives on what is happening and broader implications for Europe and the world.
A History of Russia by Now completely revised in this seventh edition, A History of Russia covers the entire span of the country's history, from ancient times to the postcommunist present. Featuring a new coauthor, Mark Steinberg, this edition offers extensively updated material based on the most current research,including documents from recently opened archives. Keeping with the hallmark of the text, Riasanovsky and Steinberg examine all aspects of Russia's history--political, international, military, economic, social, and cultural--with a commitment to objectivity, fairness, and balance. This seventhedition contains a wealth of new images and a fully revised bibliography and reading list. Two new chapters on politics, society, and culture since 1991 explore Russia's complex experience after communism and discuss its chances of becoming a more stable and prosperous country in the future.Widely acclaimed as the best one-volume history available, A History of Russia is being offered in paperback for the first time. In addition to the one-volume version, it is now also available in two separate volumes--Volume I covers early Russia through the nineteenth century and Volume II rangesfrom 1855 to the present. Volume II also features an additional introductory chapter that links Russia's modern history to the events that preceded it.
The Man Without a Face by National Book Award winner Masha Gessen's biography of a ruthless man's ascent to near-absolute power. "In a country where journalists critical of the government have a way of meeting untimely deaths, Ms. Gessen has shown remarkable courage in researching and writing this unflinching indictment of the most powerful man in Russia." --The Wall Street Journal The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low- level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to her own people and to the world. Handpicked as a successor by the "family" surrounding an ailing and increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin seemed like a perfect choice for the oligarchy to shape according to its own designs. Suddenly the boy who had stood in the shadows, dreaming of ruling the world, was a public figure, and his popularity soared. Russia and an infatuated West were determined to see the progressive leader of their dreams, even as he seized control of media, sent political rivals and critics into exile or to the grave, and smashed the country's fragile electoral system, concentrating power in the hands of his cronies. As a journalist living in Moscow, Masha Gessen experienced this history firsthand, and for The Man Without a Face she has drawn on information and sources no other writer has tapped. Her account of how a "faceless" man maneuvered his way into absolute--and absolutely corrupt--power is the definitive biography of Vladimir Putin.
Honey and Vinegar by Buttressed by input from scholars, diplomats, and observers with an intimate knowledge of U.S. foreign policy, Honey and Vinegar examines "engagement"--strategies that primarily involve the use of positive incentives. The book contends that although engagement has received little scrutiny relative to other, more punitive foreign policy approaches, it has great potential as a tool for modifying the behavior of regimes with which the United States has significant disagreements.Heightened awareness of the costs associated with the use of sanctions or military force has catalyzed a search for policy alternatives. In this quest to find other appropriate policy options for pursuing foreign policy goals, strategies of engagement warrant serious consideration. As argued in these pages, the use of incentives, rather than penalties, may be particularly well suited to the post-Cold War world, where globalization has made the economic isolation of any country difficult to achieve. At the same time, the collapse of the Soviet Union has meant that American carrots may be especially savory to many regimes once reliant on Soviet support. Paradoxically, engagement can be a good choice, even when it fails, in that it can open the door for other policy options. For instance, the two years in which America tried to engage Saddam Hussein before the Gulf War worked to the advantage of the United States later. After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, American efforts to build a militarycoalition to oppose Iraq were facilitated by the sense in the region that the United States had earlier pursued a conciliatory policy, but to no avail.Contributors to this volume have provided seven cases exploring episodes of engagement: relations between the United States and China; Europe's "Critical Dialogue" with Iran; U.S. engagement with Iraq from 1988 to 1990; U.S. efforts to engage North Korea; the combination of U.S. persuasion and coercion toward South Africa in the apartheid era; the lessons of U.S.-Soviet détente; and the process of normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam. In addition to contemplating the historical record, the book is forward looking, discussing ways in which incentives might be better introduced as the United States seeks continued or new relations with a variety of problem countries including China, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Russia, and Syria. While the editors are careful to point out the difficulties of managing strategies of engagement, they nevertheless conclude that incentives should be accorded consideration equal to the more conventional punitive options of sanctions and military force.
Intervention by This new edition of the Carnegie Endowment bestseller--selected by Choice as ""an outstanding academic book of 1995""--now also discusses the interventions in Haiti and Bosnia, the 1998 crisis (and earlier skirmishes) with Iraq, and the decision to not intervene to halt apparent genocide in Central Africa. In the core original study, which draws upon twelve cases--including Somalia, Lebanon, Panama, Grenada, and the Gulf War--Richard Haass suggests political and military guidelines for potential U.S. military interventions ranging from peacekeeping and humanitarian operations to preventive strikes and all-out warfare.
The American Encounter by Published to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Foreign Affairs, the journal of foreign policy, this collection gathers essays from past and present issues. Essays which not only laid the foundation for America's involvement on the world stage but also defined the issues of the 20th century.
The Post American World by "A relentlessly intelligent book." --Joseph Joffe, New York Times Book Review "This is not a book about thedecline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So beginsFareed Zakaria's blockbuster on the United States in the twenty-first century,and the trends he identifies have proceeded faster than anyone anticipated. Howmight the nation continue to thrive in a truly global era? In this fullyupdated 2.0 edition, Zakaria answers these questions with his customarylucidity, insight, and imagination.
Blowout by #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Big Oil and Gas Versus Democracy--Winner Take All "A rollickingly well-written book, filled with fascinating, exciting, and alarming stories about the impact of the oil and gas industry on the world today."--The New York Times Book Review In 2010, the words "earthquake swarm" entered the lexicon in Oklahoma. That same year, a trove of Michael Jackson memorabilia--including his iconic crystal-encrusted white glove--was sold at auction for over $1 million to a guy who was, officially, just the lowly forestry minister of the tiny nation of Equatorial Guinea. And in 2014, revolutionaries in Ukraine raided the palace of their ousted president and found a zoo of peacocks, gilded toilets, and a floating restaurant modeled after a Spanish galleon. Unlikely as it might seem, there is a thread connecting these events, and Rachel Maddow follows it to its crooked source: the unimaginably lucrative and equally corrupting oil and gas industry. With her trademark black humor, Maddow takes us on a switchback journey around the globe, revealing the greed and incompetence of Big Oil and Gas along the way, and drawing a surprising conclusion about why the Russian government hacked the 2016 U.S. election. She deftly shows how Russia's rich reserves of crude have, paradoxically, stunted its growth, forcing Vladimir Putin to maintain his power by spreading Russia's rot into its rivals, its neighbors, the West's most important alliances, and the United States. Chevron, BP, and a host of other industry players get their star turn, most notably ExxonMobil and the deceptively well-behaved Rex Tillerson. The oil and gas industry has weakened democracies in developed and developing countries, fouled oceans and rivers, and propped up authoritarian thieves and killers. But being outraged at it is, according to Maddow, "like being indignant when a lion takes down and eats a gazelle. You can't really blame the lion. It's in her nature." Blowout is a call to contain the lion: to stop subsidizing the wealthiest businesses on earth, to fight for transparency, and to check the influence of the world's most destructive industry and its enablers. The stakes have never been higher. As Maddow writes, "Democracy either wins this one or disappears."RSS feed for the History Channel's This Day in History series.
Ukrainian News Resources:
Ukrinform: Ukrainian Multimedia Platform for Broadcasting
Euromaiden Press: News and Views from Ukraine
Official Website of the President of Ukraine
Russian News Resources:
RT-TV (RT is the first Russian 24/7 English-language news channel which brings the Russian view on global news)
Official Website of the President of Russia
Additional News Resources:
