Browse In Politics, Arts and Humanities | What Everyone Needs to Know®

Afghanistan: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Barnett R. Rubin

Published in Print:: 08 October 2020

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569290

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190496630.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190496630

Afghanistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia, has improbably been at the center of international geopolitics for four decades. After the Soviet Union invaded in 1980, Afghanistan ... More

The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Mark J. Plotkin

Published in Print:: 23 June 2020

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569511

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190668297.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190668297

The Amazon is a land of superlatives. The complex ecosystem covers an area about the size of the continental U.S. The Amazon River discharges 57 million gallons of water per second--in two ... More

Antarctica: What Everyone Needs to Know®

David Day

Published in Print:: 27 June 2019

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569429

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190641320.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190641320

Part of the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, David Day's book on Antarctica examines the most forbidding and formidably inaccessible continent on Earth. Antarctica was first discovered ... More

The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know® (2 ed.)

James Gelvin

Published in Print:: 23 July 2015

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569108

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190222741.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190222741

Beginning in December 2010 popular revolt swept through the Middle East, shocking the world and ushering in a period of unprecedented unrest. Protestors took to the streets to demand ... More

Beginning in December 2010 popular revolt swept through the Middle East, shocking the world and ushering in a period of unprecedented unrest. Protestors took to the streets to demand greater freedom, democracy, human rights, social justice, and regime change. What caused these uprisings? What is their significance? And what are their likely consequences? In an engaging question-and-answer format, this updated edition of The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know® explores all aspects of the revolutionary protests that have rocked the Middle East. Historian James Gelvin begins with an overview, asking questions such as: What sparked the Arab uprisings? Where did the demands for democracy and human rights come from? How appropriate is the phrase “Arab Spring”?--before turning to specific countries around the region. Shifting the emphasis from the initial upheaval itself to the spinning out of the revolutionary process, Gelvin looks at such topics as the role of youth, laor, and religious groups in Tunisia and Egypt and discusses why the military turned against rulers in both countries. Exploring the uprisings in Libya and Yemen, Gelvin explains why these two states are considered “weak,” why that status is important for understanding the upheavals there, and why outside powers intervened in Libya but not in Yemen. This second edition looks more closely at the situation of individual countries affected by the uprisings. Gelvin compares two cases that defied expectations: Algeria, which experts assumed would experience a major upheaval after Egypt’s, and Syria, which experts failed to foresee. He then looks at the monarchies of Morocco, Jordan, and the Gulf, exploring the commonalities and differences of protest movements in each. Reconsidering the possible historical significance of the uprisings Gelvin explores what this means for the United States and Iran. Has al-Qaeda been strengthened or weakened? What effects have the uprisings had on the Israel-Palestine conflict? What conclusions might we draw from the uprisings so far? What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press. Less

The Arctic: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Klaus Dodds and Mark Nuttall

Published in Print:: 08 August 2019

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569443

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190649814.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190649814

As the threat of global climate change becomes a reality, many look to the Arctic Ocean to predict coming environmental phenomena. There, the consequences of Earth's warming trend are most ... More

Brazil: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Riordan Roett

Published in Print:: 01 September 2016

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569139

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190224523.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190224523

Brazil is one of the most important but puzzling countries in the world. A nation of 200 million people, it has vast natural resource reserves, rich cultural traditions, a middle class ... More

Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know® (2 ed.)

David Steinberg

Published in Print:: 26 September 2013

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197570166

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780199981687.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780199981687

It is unlikely that any country in Asia in recent years has undergone such internal policy shifts in so short a time as Myanmar. Until recently, the former British colony had one of the ... More

It is unlikely that any country in Asia in recent years has undergone such internal policy shifts in so short a time as Myanmar. Until recently, the former British colony had one of the most secretive, corrupt, and repressive regimes on the planet, a country where Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was held in continual house arrest and human rights were denied to nearly all. Yet events in Myanmar since the elections of November 2010 have profoundly altered the internal mood of the society, and have surprised even Burmese and seasoned foreign observers of the Myanmar scene. The pessimism that pervaded the society prior to the elections, and the results of that voting that prompted many foreign observers to call them a “sham” or “fraud,” gradually gave way to the realization that for reasons, variously interpreted, positive change was in the air. Taking into account the dramatic changes the country has seen in the past two years-including the establishment of a human rights commission, the release of political prisoners, and reforms in health and education-David I. Steinberg offers an updated second edition of Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know. More than ever, the history, culture, and internal politics of this country are crucial to understanding the breaking headlines emerging from it today and placing them in a broader context. Geographically strategic, Burma/Myanmar lies between the growing powers of China and India, and has a thousand-year history as an important realm in the region-yet it is mostly unknown to Westerners. Burma/Myanmar is a place of contradictions: a picturesque land with mountain jungles and monsoon plains, it is one of the world's largest producers of heroin. Though it has extensive natural resources including oil, gas, teak, metals, and minerals, it is one of the poorest countries in the world. And despite a half-century of military-dominated rule, change is beginning to work its way through the beleaguered nation, as it moves to a more pluralistic administrative system reflecting its pluralistic cultural, multi-ethnic base. Authoritative and balanced, Burma/Myanmar is an essential book on a country in the throes of historic change.Less

Campus Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Jonathan Zimmerman

Published in Print:: 29 September 2016

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569375

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190627393.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190627393

Universities are usually considered bastions of the free exchange of ideas, but a recent tide of demonstrations across college campuses has called this belief into question, and with ... More

China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know® (3 ed.)

Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

Published in Print:: 14 June 2018

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569481

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190659073.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190659073

In this fully revised and updated third edition of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know® , Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Maura Elizabeth Cunningham provide cogent answers to the ... More

Colombia: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Richard D. Mahoney

Published in Print:: 23 June 2020

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569221

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190262754.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190262754

Even to experts, Colombia is one of the most confusing countries in the Americas. Its democratic tradition is among the richest and most long-standing in the hemisphere, with only eleven ... More

The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know®

James Ker-Lindsay

Published in Print:: 28 July 2011

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569993

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780199757169.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780199757169

For nearly 60 years--from its uprising against British rule in the 1950s, to the bloody civil war between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in the ... More

Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Mark A.R. Kleiman, Jonathan P. Caulkins, and Angela Hawken

Published in Print:: 29 September 2011

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197570012

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780199764518.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780199764518

While there have always been norms and customs around the use of drugs, explicit public policies--regulations, taxes, and prohibitions--designed to control drug abuse are a more recent ... More

Food and Nutrition: What Everyone Needs to Know®

P.K. Newby

Published in Print:: 08 November 2018

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569573

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190846640.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190846640

From gluten-free to all-Paleo, GMOs to grass-fed beef, our newsfeeds abound with nutrition advice. Whether sensational headlines from the latest study or anecdotes from celebrities and food ... More

$HydrofrackingWhat Everyone Needs to Know®$

Hydrofracking: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Alex Prud'homme

Published in Print:: 12 December 2013

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569863

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780199311262.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780199311262

Constantly in the news and the subject of much public debate, fracking, as it is known for short, is one of the most promising yet controversial methods of extracting natural gas and oil. ... More

Constantly in the news and the subject of much public debate, fracking, as it is known for short, is one of the most promising yet controversial methods of extracting natural gas and oil. Today, 90 percent of natural gas wells use fracking. Though highly effective, the process-which fractures rock with pressurized fluid-has been criticized for polluting land, air, and water, and endangering human health. A timely addition to Oxford's What Everyone Needs to Know series, Hydrofracking tackles this contentious topic, exploring both sides of the debate and providing a clear guide to the science underlying the technique. In concise question-and-answer format, Alex Prud'homme cuts through the maze of opinions and rhetoric to uncover key points, from the economic and political benefits of fracking to the health dangers and negative effects on the environment. Prud'homme offers clear answers to a range of fundamental questions, including: What is fracking fluid? How does it impact water supplies? Who regulates the industry? How much recoverable natural gas exists in the U.S.? What new innovations are on the horizon? Supporters as diverse as President Obama and the conservative billionaire T. Boone Pickens have promoted natural gas as a clean, "21st-century" fuel that will reduce global warming, create jobs, and provide tax revenues, but concerns remain, with environmental activists like Bill McKibben and others leading protests to put an end to fracking as a means of obtaining alternative energy. Prud'homme considers ways to improve methods in the short-term, while also exploring the possibility of transitioning to more sustainable resources-wind, solar, tidal, and perhaps nuclear power-for the long term. Written for general readers, Hydrofracking clearly explains both the complex science of fracking and the equally complex political and economic issues that surround it, giving readers all the information they need to understand what will no doubt remain a contentious issue for years to come.Less

Impeachment: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Michael J. Gerhardt

Published in Print:: 30 August 2018

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569689

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190903664.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190903664

Impeachment: What Everyone Needs to Know® is the step back and deep reflection on the law of impeachment that everyone needs now. Written in an accessible and lively question-and-answer ... More

India in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Mira Kamdar

Published in Print:: 28 June 2018

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197570159

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780199973606.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780199973606

India is fast overtaking China to become the most populous country on Earth. By mid-century, its 1.7 billion people will live in what is projected to become the world’s second-largest ... More

Iran: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Michael Axworthy

Published in Print:: 26 January 2017

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569146

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190232955.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190232955

Since the beginning of recorded history, Iran/Persia has been one of the most important world civilizations. Iran remains a distinct civilization today despite its status as a major ... More

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Dov Waxman

Published in Print:: 08 August 2019

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569351

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190625320.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190625320

No conflict in the world has lasted as long, generated as many news headlines, or incited as much controversy as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet, despite, or perhaps because of, the ... More

Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Tim Judah

Published in Print:: 25 September 2008

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569832

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780195376739.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780195376739

On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence, becoming the seventh state to emerge from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. A tiny country of just two million people, 90% of ... More

Latinos in the United States: What Everyone Needs to Know®

Ilan Stavans

Published in Print:: 01 February 2018

Published Online:: 12 November 2020

eISBN:: 9780197569528

DOI:: 10.1093/wentk/9780190670191.001.0001

Format:: book

ISBN:: 9780190670191

As the largest and youngest minority group in the United States, the 60 million Latinos living in the U.S. represent the second-largest concentration of Hispanic people in the entire world, ... More

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