Understanding any political leader is a challenging task, and this is perhaps especially true when it comes to Vladimir Putin. Donald Kelley meets the challenge as he traces the Russian president's evolution from cautious reformer to authoritarian leader in the context of Russia's political system.    More >

The authors provide both practical guidance and general principles for successfully implementing crime prevention projects.    More >

Libya's enigmatic Muammar Qaddafi demonstrated a perhaps unprecedented capacity for reinvention and survival, particularly in the realm of foreign policy. Yehudit Ronen traces Libya's sometimes tortuous trajectory in international affairs across the four decades of Qaddafi's leadership. Ronen addresses a range of critical issues: oil politics, foreign military adventurism, WMDs,    More >

In the years following the turmoil of the Arab Spring, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates jockeyed for power, becoming significant forces—and rivals—in regional politics. Emma Soubrier unpacks the nuts and bolts of these two small states' rise to prominence, exploring how their diverging foreign and security policies have enabled both of them to become power players in the Middle    More >

A small isthmus in the central Gulf, with barely 300,000 citizens and a total population of 1.7 million, Qatar has risen rapidly from obscurity to become the world's wealthiest country per capita. Matthew Gray traces this spectacular rise, exploring the development of Qatar's economy, the patterns of its politics, its role on the world stage, and its prospects for the future.    More >

In this latest entry in HSRC's State of the Nation series, the authors focus on fresh perspectives on notions of the quality of life and wellbeing in South Africa. Their work reflects two fundamental arguments: that economic factors alone do not determine quality of life, and that typical concepts of income inequality do not adequately encompass such variables as race, gender, and culture. Not    More >

As individuals who historically have faced multiple forms of oppression, queer people of color often find themselves struggling to "fit in." What impact does this have on their sociopolitical involvement within their communities of color? Within the queer community? And to what effect? Based on one of the largest surveys to date of African American, Latina/o, Asian American, and Pacific    More >

Conversations about Donald Trump often begin with the question: how did he become president? In Questions of Character, Robert Smith provides some compelling answers based on his assessment of the role that personality and character played leading up to and during Trump's term in office. Smith traces the impact of Trump's character on the conduct of domestic and foreign policy,    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! In this investigation of some 350 wrongful convictions of African American men, Marvin Free and Mitch Ruesink critically examine how issues of race undercut the larger goals of our criminal justice system. Free and Ruesink expand the focus of wrongful conviction studies to include not only homicide, but also sexual assault, drug dealing, and nonviolent    More >

In what has been called the Dred Scott decision of our times, the US Supreme Court found in McCleskey v. Kemp that evidence of overwhelming racial disparities in the capital punishment process could not be admitted in individual capital cases—in effect institutionalizing a racially unequal system of criminal justice. Exploring the enduring legacy of this radical decision nearly three    More >