Since independence, the political institutions of many African states have undergone a process of consolidation and subsequent deterioration. Constrained by external economic dependency and an acute scarcity of economic and technical resources, state officials have demonstrated a diminished capacity to regulate their societies. Public policies are agreed upon but ineffectively implemented by the weak institutions of the state. Although scholars have analyzed the various facets of state-building in detail, little systematic attention has been given to the issue of the decline of the state and mechanisms to cope with state ineffectiveness in Africa. This book focuses especially on the character of the postcolonial state in Africa, the nature of and reasons for state deterioration, and the mechanisms and policies for coping with state malfunction. Scholars from Africa, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East combine a broad understanding of African political processes with expertise on specific regions. Their analytic and comparative perspective provides a comprehensive and timely treatment of this vital and heretofore neglected theme in African politics.

This work closely considers the history and political importance of Hong Kong in the period 1842 to 1992.

This novel traces a year in the life of Clare MacMillan, who is happily married and lives in Cape Town. Largely through the consciousness of Clare, the story is told of the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows that occur over the period of a year in the life of her family. This eventful year encompasses momentous family events, during which Clare needs to hold her nerve and maintain her balance. Her Christian faith is at the centre of her life, and sustains her, alongside the love of her husband and two sons. It is the permutations in the lives of these four family members that give the novel its drama and intensity. The narrative weaves easily through the different seasons of the year, keeping and engaging our interest all the way through. While the ending of the novel may not be conventional, it is ultimately life-affirming, and we are left with a positive feeling. We are moved by the love felt and shown between the characters, and by their courage and generosity of spirit, especially that of Clare as she consistently holds her family together. The young men Jerome and Matthew have their own narratives which are interwoven with those of their parents. The reader is drawn to all the characters with their dramas and melodramas. Ultimately faith triumphs over the events that challenge it, and hope helps overcome loss. It is a positive story of love and courage, faith and hope.

Major account of the fourteenth-century crisis which saw a series of famines, revolts and epidemics transform the medieval world.

Since the third century BCE, when the king of Sri Lanka converted to Buddhism, the island nation off the southern coast of India has represented a central interest of Buddhist scholarship. The association between its politics and religious life has not always remained harmonious, however, and has contributed to the contemporary turmoil that threatens to tear it apart. In this valuable book, renowned religious scholar Bardwell Smith elucidates the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka from the time of one of its earliest rulers through to its present-day strife. The essays collected here for the first time explore various themes of Sri Lanka’s long history in novel and constructive ways. Topics include Sinhala Buddhists’ sense of manifest destiny arising from Sri Lanka’s oldest historical chronicles, the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa; the nationalist implications of the chronicles’ depiction of the third-century Mahavihara monastery as the site of "original Buddhism"; and concepts of order and legitimation of power in ancient Ceylon. With a new introduction and final chapter, Smith sheds fresh light on today’s Sri Lanka, connecting historical studies with contemporary issues.

Precarious Balance reports on the best new work in printmaking by artists from Canada and abroad. This collection includes articles on printmaking by printmakers and art historians from Poland, Iceland, Austria, the United States, Canada, Japan, Yugoslavia, and Great Britain. Precarious Balance is the second in Walter Jule's PRINT VOICE series.