Geographically, historically and culturally Vietnam was profoundly influenced by Chinese culture due to more than 1,000 years under Chinese rule. Chinese influence was less important in Vietnam from 1884 to 1945 after the French occupied Cochinchina and established their protectorate in Tonkin and Annam. By the end of the 19th century almost all the Vietnamese resistance forces were defeated by the French. The Vietnamese revolutionaries looked for different paths of national liberation, and thought of foreign aid. Phan Boi Chau and Cuong De admired the Japanese reforms. He founded Phong Trao Dong Du (Journey to the East Movement). Phan Chu Trinh loved Western democracy and modernization in exhorting non- violence (ahimsa). He was the soul of the Modernization Movement. Nguyen Tat Thanh (Ho Chi Minh) leaned toward the Comintern. He founded Vietnam Thanh Nien Cach Mang Dong Chi Hoi (Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association) in 1925, and Dang Cong San Viet Nam (Vietnam Communist Party) in 1930. He played an important role in the Vietnamese revolutions in the 20th century. Nguyen Thai Hoc headed Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnam Kuomintang), and adopted San Min Chu I (Three Peoples Principles) promoted by Sun Yat- sen. Bui Quang Chieu founded Dang Lap Hien (Constitutionalist Party), cherishing Phap- Viet De Hue (Franco- Vietnamese Cooperation). Ta Thu Thau, Phan Van Hum, Ho Huu Tuong chose Trotskyism known as the Fourth International. Ngo Dinh Diem was a mandarin. Nguyen Van Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky were military men. They all were trained and educated by the French before being backed by Washington to become leaders of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). International Politico- Cultural Influences on Vietnam in the 20th Century was the summary of the influences of the Big Five and Japan on Vietnam in the 20th century. It showed the readers how important foreign aid was in Vietnam, how Vietnam was modified by foreign aid, and how complicated the Vietnam problems were for not digesting different political doctrines and cultures smoothly.

It was the trial of a century in colonial Hong Kong when, in 1931–33, Ho Chi Minh - the future President of Vietnam - faced down deportation to French-controlled territory with a death sentence dangling over him. Thanks to his appeal to English common law, Ho Chi Minh won his reprieve. With extradition a major political issue in Hong Kong today, Geoffrey C. Gunn's examination of the legal case of Ho Chi Minh offers a timely insight into the rule of law and the issue of extradition in the former British colony. Utilizing little known archival material, Gunn sheds new light on Ho Chi Minh, communist and anti-colonial networks and Franco–British relations.

Some scholars emphasize the importance of a hegemon in creating a regime and giving it momentum. This is called the hegemonic stability theory. The United States, for example, has been instrumental in creating the Bretton Woods system, with organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The rationale is that a hegemon, being the dominant actor in international politics and economics, often stands to gain the most from the creation of global standards. For instance, while other countries might benefit from it, U.S. companies like Microsoft, Universal Studios, and Pfizer would be among the greatest beneficiaries of a strict global intellectual property regime. As the hegemons use their power to create regimes, their withdrawal similarly can also threaten the effectiveness of regimes. Regimes serve crucial functional needs in international relations. Powerful regimes are considered by some scholars as independent actors in international politics. Although ultimately states create and sustain regimes, once institutionalized, regimes can exert influence in world politics that is practically independent of state sovereignty. The International Atomic Energy Agency, for instance, has certain rights, given to it by states themselves, to monitor nuclear energy activity in countries. Insofar as they are organized by means of treaties among countries, regimes provide an important source of formal international law. Regimes themselves can also be subjects of international law. This book tries to unravel that ideology and to create an alternative vision of a just and democratic world over. Contents: • International Regime • Theories of International Regimes • Applying Regime Theories • Regime Change • State Cartel Theory • Critiques of the Theory of International Regimes • Conspiracy Theories • World-systems Theory • New International Economic Order • Unchanged Role of Nation-States

“A brilliant, fast-moving narrative history of the leaders who have defined the modern American presidency.”—Bob Woodward In Republic of Spin—a vibrant history covering more than one hundred years of politics—presidential historian David Greenberg recounts the rise of the White House spin machine, from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. His sweeping, startling narrative takes us behind the scenes to see how the tools and techniques of image making and message craft work. We meet Woodrow Wilson convening the first White House press conference, Franklin Roosevelt huddling with his private pollsters, Ronald Reagan’s aides crafting his nightly news sound bites, and George W. Bush staging his “Mission Accomplished” photo-op. We meet, too, the backstage visionaries who pioneered new ways of gauging public opinion and mastering the media—figures like George Cortelyou, TR’s brilliantly efficient press manager; 1920s ad whiz Bruce Barton; Robert Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower’s canny TV coach; and of course the key spinmeisters of our own times, from Roger Ailes to David Axelrod. Greenberg also examines the profound debates Americans have waged over the effect of spin on our politics. Does spin help our leaders manipulate the citizenry? Or does it allow them to engage us more fully in the democratic project? Exploring the ideas of the century’s most incisive political critics, from Walter Lippmann and H. L. Mencken to Hannah Arendt and Stephen Colbert, Republic of Spin illuminates both the power of spin and its limitations—its capacity not only to mislead but also to lead.

This study is based upon a cross-section of secondary-school history textbooks from fourteen european countries, with differing traditions of educational literature: the Czech Republic, England and Wales, Finland, France, Lithuania, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation and Spain. Examples from other countries are also discussed, in particular some of the Balkan countries, where the parallel process of building a national identity while also establishing a European one is taking place. (CoE website.)