This book investigates a corpus of royal inscriptions and literary texts, with special emphasis on those that are mythological and biblical, stretching over several millennia from the early days of Sumer to the Biblical period, in order to determine the ways in which the concept of water was used, in particular the way it functions in the political and theological ideology of the time. Three literary motifs are the object of a careful study : the crossing of water, the flood and the water of abundance. Though their study shows diversity in evolution, transmission and reception, it appears that their function is common at the heart of the Mesopotamian political theology of royal mediation.

Although we live in a globalised world, territorially embedded factors are highly relevant in such domains as security, economy, energy, environment, politics & diplomacy. Today’s analysts of world affairs are often loosely referring to ‘geopolitics’, but do not always clearly define it. This book therefore offers a necessary framework: an introduction into the main components of geopolitical analysis, an overview of the main geopolitical schools of thought, as well as reflections on how technology and geopolitics affect each other in economy, energy and security. In addition, several empirical studies are showcased, each developing innovative approaches. Leading authors reflect upon containment, analyse geopolitical myths, research geoeconomic rivalries, study mental maps, analyse conflict through territorially embedded variables & greed motivations and apply ‘neo-medievalism’ to study sub-state diplomacy. Contributors include: David Criekemans, Gyula Csurgai, Luis da Vinha, Manuel Duran, Alexandre Lambert, Antonios Nestoras, and Steven Spittaels.

On the world map, macro-regions or global regions have gradually emerged, with varying degrees of success and following different trajectories. The authors of this book attempt to determine whether, within the context of globalization, these macro-regions have become an additional level in the spatial deployment of numerous actors, and whether they have come to stand between the national and global levels. This question has arisen because the increasing scales of trade, environmental problems, migration routes, energy distribution, the construction of major infrastructures etc. transcend national boundaries and are leading states to implement macro-regional cooperation. The authors ask whether these large regional groupings are becoming genuine territories and are the fruit of in-depth regional integration – economic, institutional, legal, normative, political, cultural and in terms of identity. If so, these global regions would therefore become referents that make sense and take root in social representations.

Presents a thematically indexed bibliography devoted to Afghanistan. Following the pattern established by one of its major data sources, viz, the acclaimed Index Islamicus, both journal articles and book publications are included and indexed.

Water Communication aims at setting a first general outlook at what communication on water means, who communicates and on what topics. Through different examples and based on different research and contributions, this book presents an original first overview of “water communication”. It sets its academic value as one distinct scientific domain and provides tips and practical tools to professionals. The book contributes to avoid mixing messages, targets and discourses when setting communication related to water issues. The book facilitates coordination within the water sector and its organizations as water is a wide field of applications where inadequate words and language understanding between its stakeholders is one of the main obstacles today. Water Communication provides and describes: a general outlook and retrospective of the history of the water sector in terms of communication the landscape of organizations communicating on water and classification of topics the differences between communication, information, mediation, raising awareness examples of communication campaigns on water Water Communication is a vital resource for communication managers, utility managers, policy makers involved in water management and students in water sciences and environment. Colour figures from the book are available to view on the WaterWiki at: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/WaterCommunicationAnalysisofStrategiesandCampaignsfromtheWaterSector Editor: Celine Herve-Bazin, Celsa - Sorbonne University, Paris, France