Dekha Ibrahim Abdi and Simon J. A. Mason

The result of a long collaboration between a Kenyan-Somali mediator and a Swiss scholar-practitioner, Mediation and Governance in Fragile Contexts introduces an innovative, practical approach to resolving an enduring issue: How can conflicts be resolved in polarized societies? This approach breaks out of the insider/outsider dichotomy to develop a framework for achieving peace in the most  More >

Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki

Abdul-Baki’s stories, set in Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, and Jerusalem, explore the themes of young women coming of age, the effects of civil war, and differences between East and West.  More >

Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki

An innocent yet stinging—and always absorbing—account of the lives of two young expatriate girls in Kuwait in the 1960s. Isabel, the red-headed daughter of an American mother and Arab father, befriends Laila, whose family has left the lush, cool mountains of Lebanon in search of a better life in the heat and desert of Kuwait. Abdul-Baki presents the voices of both girls, telling their  More >

Toshihiro Abe

Though transitional justice has been hailed by many as the best path toward reconciliation and stability in postconflict and democratizing societies, criticisms of the approach also abound, with a significant number of TJ programs labeled failures. What accounts for this difference of opinion? How is success measured? Have the societies that sought to implement a plan for TJ followed the  More >

Rebecca Neaera Abers

Countless studies of citizen participation in public decisionmaking point out the limitations of direct democracy when it is transported from the realm of political theory into the "real world." In contrast, this book examines a case where an innovative city government gave major decisionmaking power to ordinary citizens on a large scale—and managed to survive and prosper. Since  More >

Zachary Abuza

Moving from the 1950s to the present, Zachary Abuza explores Vietnamese politics and culture through the lens of the internal debates over political reform. Abuza focuses on issues of representation, intellectual freedom, the rise of civil society, and the emergence of a "loyal opposition," assessing the prospects for change. He finds that, while some mildly dissident groups may add  More >

Zachary Abuza

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia has moved beyond a matter of local concern to one of global significance—as the events of the past decade have so clearly demonstrated. Drawing on intensive on-the-ground investigation and interviews with key militants, Zachary Abuza explains the emergence of radical Islamist groups in the region, examines Al-Qaida's  More >

Evelyne Accad, translated by David Bruner

Dealing with sexual mutilation, Accad’s lyrical, tragic novel shows woman as prisoner, victim, and target of man’s age-old preoccupation with domination by and fear of women. Set in exploding, agonized Lebanon, the work is Islamic, Christian, modern, and antique in scope. First published in French in 1982. This new paperback edition includes a preface by the author.  More >

Edna Acosta-Belén and Carlos E. Santiago

Fully revised and expanded to reflect more than a decade of new developments and data, the second edition of this widely acclaimed book presents an up-to-date, comprehensive portrait of the second largest Latino group in the United States. Edna Acosta-Belén and Carlos Santiago trace the trajectory of the Puerto Rican experience from the early colonial period, through a series of waves of  More >

Action Against Hunger

On the Humanitarian Times List of Top Ten Books of 2000! Widespread hunger continues to exist at the turn of the century, despite the efforts of scores of international relief organizations. Why? The authors of The Geopolitics of Hunger, 2000-2001 draw on both research and their first-hand experience to explore the use of hunger as a weapon in food crises around the world. They also discuss  More >