Hicham Alaoui and Robert Springborg, editors

Despite substantial spending on education and robust support for reform both internally and by external donors, the quality of education in many, if not most, Arab countries remains low. Which raises the question: why? The authors of The Political Economy of Education in the Arab World find answers in the authoritarian political economies that shape the architecture of national governance  More >

Hicham Alaoui and Robert Springborg, editors

Why, given the enormous resources spent by the US and Europe on security assistance to Arab countries, has it led to so little success? Can anything be done to change the disheartening status quo? Addressing these thorny questions, the authors of this state-of-the-art assessment evaluate the costs and benefits to the main providers and recipients of security assistance in the MENA region and  More >

Jay Albanese, editor

This anthology includes ten previously unpublished studies and reviews of contemporary organized crime, including its connection to legitimate business, how groups become organized, the effectiveness of different law enforcement approaches, and new criminal opportunities.  More >

Manuel Alcántara Sáez, editor

The premise of this book is, simply, that politicians matter—that an understanding of the role played by politicians in the way that politics is carried out in their countries is, far from constituting a resurrection of outdated elitist theories, of vital importance in present-day Latin America. The authors consider politicians as both cause and effect. Drawing on pioneering field research  More >

Roger Allen, editor

Yusuf Idris is considered by many to be the greatest contemporary short-story writer working in Arabic. The 17 critical essays in this collection—some by critics in the Arab world and others by Western specialists on modern Arabic fiction and drama—are organized in sections devoted to Idris's short stories, novels, and plays. Each section includes studies that adopt a general  More >

Merzak Allouache, translated by Angela M. Brewer

Bored housewives, kept in seclusion, smuggling in Harlequin romances. Modish young men transformed into Islamic militants. A baker unwittingly caught in a web of intrigue, an imam whose faith is tested by urban corruption, a lonely divorcee accused of prostitution—all take part in Merzak Allouache's novel of a society on the brink of crisis. Allouache tells the story of the people of  More >

Gabriel A. Almond

Reflecting an extraordinary career, Ventures in Political Science collects Gabriel Almond's most important work on the development of political science and democratic theory. An absorbing introduction—providing personal and historical context—precedes Almond's masterful "History of Political Science." Equally notable are essays on capitalism and democracy, the crisis  More >

Miriam Alves, editor and translated by Carolyn Richardson Durham

This is the first time that the literary works of contemporary Afro-Brazilian women have been compiled presenting a comprehensive vision of what it means to be both black and female in Brazil. Though the canon of Brazilian literature is rich in Afro-Brazilian female characters, until recently it has included only a handful of Afro-Brazilian women writers, sprinkled across the centuries. The  More >

Ahmad A.H.M. Aly

Regionalism, Ahmad Aly argues persuasively, is the most appropriate strategy for the achievement of autonomous, self-sustained development in Africa. Aly traces the causes of the failures thus far of attempts at economic cooperation on the continent, citing in particular the adoption of inappropriate integration schemes, the multiplicity of overlapping arrangements, the dominance of politics,  More >

Nawal H. Ammar, editor

How realistic are media portrayals of radical, "homegrown" Islamic terrorists filling US prisons? With prisons a fertile recruiting ground for Islam, what impact does the religion have on life behind bars? Muslims in US Prisons systematically explores the cultural, legal, political, and religious issues shaping the Muslim prison experience.          More >