At one time the US and Latin America defined themselves in common as new and American, in contrast to the old, European order, and they enjoyed a period of friendship and cooperation based on that sustaining sense of commonality. With the advent of the Cold War, however, hemispheric solidarity and alliance faded fast, as the US became preoccupied with other regions of the world it deemed of deeper strategic significance. The United States and Latin America now largely define each other as negative reference points, instead of as neighbors and allies. In Troubled Neighbors, Henry Raymont-journalist for four decades, author, lecturer, teacher, and consultant-presents a journalist's observations on the pendulum swings in US-Latin American relations over the past half-century. The book is organized chronologically, with a chapter devoted to each of the administrations from FDR to Bill Clinton and an epilogue covering the first term of the George W. Bush administration. Straightforward organization: The book is chronologically organized, with a chapter devoted in turn to each administration from FDR to George W. Bush. Experienced author, an expert in the field._

This book offers an analysis of the dynamics of Israeli-European relations and discusses significant developments in that relationship from the late 1950s through to the present day. The emphasis is placed on five broad themes that address different dimensions of the relationship: 1) Israeli-E.U. relations and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; 2) Israeli-E.U. relations in a multilateral context; 3) the bilateral nature of Israeli-E.U. relations; 4) Israeli (mis)perceptions of the E.U.; 5) the future of Israeli-E.U. relations.

What does the New Testament have to say about the attitude of Christians and the church toward those who exercise political authority? Few topics have caused more controversy in the history of the church than the relationship between church and state-from the first century to the present. Pilgrim offers an analysis of the various attitudes of New Testament writers on this difficult subject, ranging from submission to overt resistance by the church. The volume also excursus on "Church and State in Luke-Acts" and a concluding chapter on hermeneutics.

Popular philosopher and leftist rabble-rouser Slavoj Zizek looks at one of the most desperate situations of our time: the current refugee crisis overwhelming Europe In this short yet stirring book, Slavoj Zizek—called “the Elvis of cultural history” by The New York Times—argues that accepting all comers or blocking all entry are both untenable solutions . . . But there is a third option. Today, hundreds of thousands of people, desperate to escape war, violence and poverty, are crossing the Mediterranean to seek refuge in Europe. Our response, from our protected Western European standpoint, argues Slavoj Zizek, offers two versions of ideological blackmail: either we open our doors as widely as possible; or we try to pull up the drawbridge. Both solutions are bad, states Zizek. They merely prolong the problem, rather than tackling it. The refugee crisis also presents an opportunity, a unique chance for Europe to redefine itself: but, if we are to do so, we have to start raising unpleasant and difficult questions. We must also acknowledge that large migrations are our future: only then can we commit to a carefully prepared process of change, one founded not on a community that see the excluded as a threat, but one that takes as its basis the shared substance of our social being. The only way, in other words, to get to the heart of one of the greatest issues confronting Europe today is to insist on the global solidarity of the exploited and oppressed. Maybe such solidarity is a utopia. But, warns Zizek, if we don't engage in it, then we are really lost. And we will deserve to be lost.

The moral principles prescribed for friendship, civil society, and democratic public life apply imperfectly to life around home, where we interact day to day without the formal institutions, rules of conduct, and means of enforcement that guide us in other settings. This work explores how encounters among neighbours create a democracy of everyday life, which has been with us since the beginning of American history and is expressed in settler, immigrant, and suburban narratives and in novels, poetry, and popular culture.

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year: A deliciously entertaining account of expatriate life in a small village just outside Verona, Italy. Tim Parks is anything but a gentleman in Verona. So after ten years of living with his Italian wife, Rita, in a typical provincial Italian neighborhood, the novelist found that he had inadvertently collected a gallery full of splendid characters. In this wittily observed account, Parks introduces readers to his home town, with a statue of the Virgin at one end of the street, a derelict bottle factory at the other, and a wealth of exotic flora and fauna in between. Via Colombare, the village’s main street, offers an exemplary hodgepodge of all that is new and old in the bel paese, a point of collision between invading suburbia and diehard peasant tradition. It is a world of creeping vines, stuccoed walls, shotguns, security cameras, hypochondria, and expensive sports cars. More than a mere travelogue, Italian Neighbors is a vivid portrait of the real Italy and a compelling story of how even the most foreign people and places gradually assume the familiarity of home. “One of the most delightful travelogues imaginable . . . so vivid, so packed with delectable details.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review