On the open landscape of Israel and the West Bank, where pine and cypress forests grow alongside olive groves, tree planting has become symbolic of conflicting claims to the land. Palestinians cultivate olive groves as a vital agricultural resource, while the Israeli government has made restoration of mixed-growth forests a national priority. Although both sides plant for a variety of purposes, both have used tree planting to assert their presence on—and claim to—disputed land. Shaul Ephraim Cohen has conducted an unprecedented study of planting in the region and the control of land it signifies. In The Politics of Planting, he provides historical background and examines both the politics behind Israel's afforestation policy its consequences. Focusing on the open land surrounding Jerusalem and four Palestinian villages outside the city, this study offers a new perspective on the conflict over land use in a region where planting has become a political tool. For the valuable data it presents—collected from field work, previously unpublished documents, and interviews—and the insight it provides into this political struggle, this will be an important book for anyone studying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The development of the Cultivation System from the years 1840 to 1860 is the focus of this work by the Dutch scholar Cornelis Fasseur. The author presents a general overview of Dutch po y and decision-making, and considers how these policies influenced the evolution of the Cultivation System and how the system itself altered Dutch views of governance in Java.

Genetically modified (GM) food crops have inspired increasing controversy over the past decade. By the mid-1990s they were widely grown in the U.S., Canada, and Argentina, but precautionary regulations continue to limit their use elsewhere. The restrictive policies of Europe and Japan toward GM crops have been much discussed. Less attention has been paid to the policies affecting the adoption of GM crops in the developing world, where their potential impact on the availability and quality of food is even greater. In this book Robert Paarlberg looks at the policy choices regarding GM food made by four important developing countries: Kenya, Brazil, India, and China. Of these, so far only China has approved the planting of GM crops. Paarlberg identifies five policy areas in which governments of developing countries can either support or discourage GM crops: intellectual property rights, biosafety, trade, food safety, and public research and investment. He notes that highly cautious biosafety policies have so far been the key reason that Kenya, Brazil, and India have hesitated to plant GM crops. These cautious policies have been strongly reinforced by international market forces and international diplomatic and NGO pressures. China has been less cautious toward GM crops, in part because there is less opportunity in China for international organizations or independent critics of GM crops to challenge official policy.

'Why have GM Foods become so controversial? Comparing GM food politics in the US, Britain, and the European Union, Toke draws on insights from discourse analysis to help explain this basic political struggle of our time. By stressing the interplay between the material and discursive dimensions involved in the shaping of the conflict, the work offers a detailed account that enriches our political understanding of these 'Frankenfoods' on a variety of fronts, in particular the interplay between scientific expertise and citizens politics. Those interested in the 'risk society', both students and specialists, will find much to learn from this perceptive analysis.' Professor Frank Fischer, Rutgers University, USA The Politics of GM Food compares and explains how differing political outcomes have occurred regarding GM food and crops in the UK, USA and the EU, thus throwing light on the relationship between science and politics.

Demonstrates how proverbs and to a lesser extent proverbial expressions, have played a significant role in political life during the 20th century. Takes as major examples the speeches and writings of Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman to show how proverbs can be brought into the service of most any ideology. Also traces the use of proverbs and their cartoon analogues during the five decades of Cold War propaganda, and proverbial slurs against Native Americans and Asian Americans. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the landscape of Israel-Palestine was radically transformed. Breaking from conventional focus on explicit sites of violence and devastation, Noam Leshem turns critical attention to 'ordinary' spaces and places where the intricate and often intimate engagements between Jews and myriad Arab spaces takes place to this day. Leshem builds on interdisciplinary studies of space, memory, architecture and history, and exposes a rich archive of ideology, culture, political projects of state-building and identity formation. The result is a fresh look at the conflicted history of Israel-Palestine: a spatial history in which the Arab past isn't in fact separate, but inextricably linked to the Israeli present.