This edition presents an overview of American foreign policy. It is divided into eight units. The first unit addresses questions of grand strategy. The second unit focuses on selected regional and bilateral relations. In the third unit, [the attention] shifts inward to the ways in which domestic forces affect the content of American foreign policy. The fourth unit looks at the institutions the make American foreign policy. In the fifth unit, the process by which American foreign policy is made is illustrated through accounts of recent foreign policy decisions. The sixth and seventh units provide an overview of the economic and military issues confronting the United States today. The final unit looks in depth at the issues surrounding the war in Iraq and its aftermath from a variety of different perspectives.-Pref.

This book is the product of a joint research program between the Institute of West Asia & African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing and the Energy Program Asia of the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University. China’s transition to an urban-industrial society relies on its abundant domestic coal supplies, and on an increase in oil and gas imports. However, authorities are confronted with trade-offs between investments in expanding supplies of fossils, environmental sustainability, energy efficiency and in clean energy. Resources spent on expanding imported energy have to weighted against clean energy investments and improving efficiency of the fossil-fuel sector. The same is no less true for the European Union and its member states. Import dependency on piped gas is again growing. Security of supply of natural gas depends on political cooperation with energy-rich countries. At the same the EU has to meet its clean energy commitments by compromises between member states and ‘Brussels’. Chinese National Oil Companies bridge the worlds of government in China and the extractive sector in hydrocarbon exporting-countries. At the global level, Chinese (Trans-)National Oil Companies maintain competitive and cooperative relations with privately owned International Oil companies. This book focuses, among others, on these networks with the objective to contribute to the study of the geopolitical economy of the energy sectors in the global system. Contributors are: M.P. Amineh, Eric K. Chu, Wina H.J. Crijns-Graus, Robert Cutler, Li Xiaohua, Liu Dong, Chen Mo, Nana de Graaff, Joyeeta Gupta, Sara Hardus, Barbara Hogenboom, Sun Hongbo and Yang Guang.

This book examines the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), an ambitious venture in regional market integration which builds on the principles of the North American Free Trade Agreement. It assesses the long-term corporate and public policy measures to cope with the increased monetary, fiscal and structural interdependence that will be required if the benefits of the FTAA are to be realized. The contributors suggest that with enlightened US leadership and the cooperation of Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, the FTAA could eventually match the EU in the world economy and as a multilateral leader. Initiatives to promote a culture of relational cooperation in a system of liberalized global commerce are stressed. In Latin America, there is an urgent need for such cooperation in order to enhance the region s lackluster growth rate and reduce the occurrences and severity of financial crises. The United States, Canada and Mexico will also benefit from the development of dynamic structural links with their regional neighbours. The authors highlight the importance for US policy initiatives to be complemented by constructive and harmonious corporate collaborations. This spirit of alliance capitalism will help ensure the FTAA promotes social justice as well as economic efficiency. This fully integrated volume, written by leading specialists in the field, will become an indispensable source for analysis of the prospects and role of the FTAA in the global economy. It will be warmly welcomed by informed readers such as international business experts, bankers, corporate executives, economists dealing with fiscal and monetary integration, and those interested in Latin American business.

The sixth edition of Environment and Society continues to connect issues about human societies, ecological systems, and the environment with data and perspectives from different fields. While the text looks at environmental issues from a primarily sociological viewpoint, it is designed for courses in Environmental Sociology and Environmental Issues in departments of Sociology, Environmental Studies, Anthropology, Political Science, and Human Geography. Clearly defined terms and theories help familiarize students from various backgrounds with the topics at hand. Each of the chapters is significantly updated with new data, concepts, and ideas. Chapter Three: Climate Change, Science and Diplomacy, is the most extensively revised with current natural science data and sociological insights. It also details the factors at play in the establishment of the Paris Agreement and its potential to affect global climate change. This edition elevates questions of environmental and climate justice in addressing the human-environment relations and concerns throughout the book. Finally, each chapter contains embedded website links for further discussion or commentary on a topic, concludes with review and reflection questions, and suggests further readings and internet sources.