Endorsements: "Waetjen offers us an illuminating reading of Mark's Gospel that was forged out of his own experience in the Third World. Working from a fresh translation that lays bare the Markan style, Waetjen traces the stark conflict between the new ordering of power announced by Jesus and the tenacious domination of the ruling elite in Israel's agrarian society. This innovative application of the sociology of millennialism to the phenomenon of Mark's narrative world is loaded with insights that will be of interest to readers at every level." --David Rhoads, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago

"Waetjen offers us an illuminating reading of Mark's Gospel that was forged out of his own experience in the Third World. Working from a fresh translation that lays bare the Markan style, Waetjen traces the stark conflict between the new ordering of power announced by Jesus and the tenacious domination of the ruling elite in Israel's agrarian society. This innovative application of the sociology of millennialism to the phenomenon of Mark's narrative world is loaded with insights that will be of interest to readers at every level." --David Rhoads, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago

An explosion at a New York shopping mall launches an all-out Stony Man effort against the new face of terror. A brilliant and brutal warlord-turned-dictator is poised to destabilize the entire Middle East through blood politics, and a series of planned attacks is about to lead to desperate chaos. Original.

This book provides a comprehensive, conceptual and analytical framework for understanding the reordering process in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, driven and shaped by China–US rivalry. It demonstrates the differences between China–US, China–LAC and US–LAC relations and questions to what extent the LAC region can be considered a unified actor. Exploring broad perspectives such as global governance, international institutions, trade, security policy, climate change, multilateralism and regional and global peace and stability, the contributors also consider China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and “minilateral” cooperation, sustainable development and business and the role of soft power, such as tourism and education in China–LAC relations. This timely and important contribution analyzing the changing regional order in the LAC region brought about by China’s global rise and increasing hegemonic competition with the US will appeal to scholars and student of international relations, international political economy, and security studies.

Mark's Gospel is much maligned for its redundancy and stylistic sloppiness. But is this indignity justified? The answer to this question hangs not only on the genre of this work but also on the life setting of its target audience. Rather than unwitting slip-ups of an inept writer, Mark's narrative repetitions and temporal dislocations are better understood as rhetorical strategies for a didactive oral performance. There is "method" to Mark's "madness," and the method maps his meaning. In recent decades, some scholars have become enamored with what they see as a generic affinity between Mark's Gospel and fictive literature, particularly ancient romance novels. Could this be the "method" behind Mark's madness? This book offers readers an exciting and profitable journey into two story worlds that likely share a common historical-cultural setting: Mark's "Gospel" and Chariton's "passion of love." Analyzing these works from the vantage point of narrative sequence, Starner identifies two contrasting worldviews: for Chariton, the world is controlled by the goddess Aphrodite who serves as a powerbroker distributing political, economic, and sociological power to agents who use that power for self-serving ends; for Mark, the world is governed by an All-Powerful God who, shockingly, operates from a posture of powerlessness, inviting (not coercing) humans to accept his lordship and urging them to adopt the self-sacrificial, service-oriented program of living that finds its quintessential expression in the historical Jesus of the Gospels.

Presents the role communication plays in advancing society's and the individual's understanding of HIV/AIDS, with examples from around the globe. It is of particular relevance to scholars in comm, public health, health psychology, and related disciplines

"[This book] examines how Iraq's evolving political order affects its complex relationships with its neighbors and the United States. The book depicts a region unbalanced, shaped by new and old tensions, struggling with a classic collective action dilemma, and anxious about Iraq's political future, as well as America's role in the region, all of which suggest trouble ahead absent concerted efforts to promote regional cooperation. In the volume's case studies ... [scholars] review Iraq's bilateral relationships with Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Arab states, Syria, and Jordan and explore how Iraq's neighbors could advance the country's transition to security and stability. The volume also looks at the United States' relations with and long-term strategic interests in Iraq and offers recommendations for how the United States can help Iraq strengthen and grow"--Page 4 of cover.