American leaders have cooperated with regimes around the world that are, to varying degrees, repressive or corrupt. Such cooperation is said to serve the national interest. But these partnerships also contravene the nation’s commitments to democratic governance, civil liberties, and free markets. During the Cold War, policymakers were casual about sacrificing important values for less-than-compelling strategic rationales. Since the 9/11 attacks, similar ethical compromises have taken place, although policymakers now seem more selective than their Cold War–era counterparts. Americans want a foreign policy that pursues national interests while observing American values. How might that reconciliation of interest and morality be accomplished? In Perilous Partners, authors Ted Galen Carpenter and Malou Innocent provide a strategy for resolving the ethical dilemmas between interests and values faced by Washington. They propose maintaining an arm’s-length relationship with authoritarian regimes, emphasizing that the United States must not operate internationally in ways that routinely pollute American values. It is a strategy based on ethical pragmatism, which is the best way to reconcile America’s strategic interests and its fundamental values. Perilous Partners creates a strategy for conducting an effective U.S. foreign policy without betraying fundamental American values.

An all-new historical mystery in this USA Today bestselling series featuring beloved inquiry agents Lady Kiera Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage. Argyll, Scotland. July 1832. After a trying few months in Edinburgh, Kiera and her husband and investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, are eager to escape to the Highlands with their three-month-old child. Kiera is overjoyed for her cousin Rye and her detractor-turned-friend Charlotte who are being wed in a private ceremony at the estate of Rye’s great-uncle, the Marquess of Barbreck, in what seems to be the perfect wedding party. But when Kiera is invited to peruse Barbreck’s extensive art collection, she is disturbed to discover that one of his most priceless paintings seems to be a forgery. The marquess’s furious reaction when she dares to mention it leaves her shaken and the entire house shocked. For it turns out that this is not the first time the word forgery has been uttered in connection with the Barbreck household. Matters turn more ominous when a maid from a neighboring estate is found murdered where the forged painting hangs. Is her death connected to the forgeries, perhaps a grisly warning of what awaits those who dare to probe deeper? With unknown entities aligned against them, Kiera and Gage are forced to confront the fact that they may have underestimated their opponent. For they are swiftly made to realize that Charlotte’s and Rye’s future happiness is not the only issue at stake, and this stealthy game of cat and mouse could prove to have deadly consequences.

Exposing the moral and strategic deficits of the Obama, Clinton and Kerry approach to world affairs, A Perilous Path takes a close look at American history, while at the same time providing fresh, thought-provoking analysis. It calls for renewal of the best American foreign policy traditions, which emphasize “peace through strength” and human rights. Anne R. Pierce tells the fascinating story of Obama administration foreign policy and illustrates its disturbing consequences. She shows that President Obama and his Secretaries of State expended more effort in improving relations with dictatorships than in strengthening ties with democracies or encouraging ideas of freedom. With meticulous research, Pierce documents the administration’s decisions and discusses its worldview. She reveals vital information regarding Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, providing a cautionary account of what we can expect from a Clinton presidency. Whoever becomes president, A Perilous Path offers a moral and strategic compass for both policymakers and the public. A Perilous Path will make a substantial contribution to the discussion about America’s proper role in the world. This book is a must read for everyone concerned about the current state of the world, and interested in charting a better course.

Sigmund Freud meets Peter Drucker ... Behind the Executive Door is a revealing look at the behavior of top business leaders—and how the next level of aspiring managers can learn to navigate the political and personal landscape. Based on over 25 years of psychotherapy and consulting experiences, as well as extensive empirical research, Karol Wasylyshyn has identified a dynamic continuum of executive behaviors that are manifested in three specific types of business leaders – Remarkable, Perilous, and Toxic. She describes these types in accessible terms with the intertwined goals of helping readers (1) recognize these behaviors and leadership types and (2) leverage this information to increase their savvy and effectiveness in the workplace. In the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley and the increased scrutiny of business executives, we have learned that how they lead is often their undoing – or at least it is a pressing development need and/or potential derailment factor. In short, despite financial or strategic smarts, ineffective leadership behavior de-motivates talented employees, has adverse effects on productivity, and jeopardizes positive business results. Conversely, we can recognize the qualities of effective leadership behavior, which is largely a function of emotional intelligence, the ability to tap into the needs and motivations of others and bring out their best performance. In Behind the Executive Door, the author provides a wide variety of tools and exercises to help the reader identify the behavior traits of their organizations’ leaders –and hone their own approaches to achieve positive results. In the process, readers will also gain insights and skills to manage laterally and down, as well as up the organizational ladder. The concepts can be applied in any type of organization – private or public, for-profit or non-profit. The result is not only a better understanding of organizational politics and leadership behavior, but a practical guide to making important career decisions, such as whom to work for and how to develop one’s own leadership style.

Shortlisted for last year's MIND Book of the Year Award, this controversial exposé of a multimillion-pound industry argues that the term 'stress', when applied to human beings, is completely meaningless. We seem to be living through an epidemic of stress. There are 15 million websites dedicated to the subject and Britain alone has over two million accredited therapists, counsellors and healers devoted to protecting us from what they claim is a debilitating disease. But is there really a stress problem? In this brilliant and provocative analysis, Angela Patmore examines the confusion and controversy surrounding the whole concept, raising important questions about the treatments and advice that offer to cure it. She argues that the health angst engendered by all this lucrative 'stress awareness' sends its victims in search of therapy and sedation and fuels an epidemic costing the UK billions. Far from helping people cope with their problems and feelings, she contends, the unregulated industry is harming them. Her conclusions suggest we need to reappraise profoundly the way we understand our own health and well-being.

Donald Trump’s presidency has triggered a growing debate on both sides of the Atlantic about the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and U.S. policy regarding the alliance. In NATO: The Dangerous Dinosaur, Ted Galen Carpenter outlines how NATO in its current form has outlived its purpose, and burden sharing is only part of the problem. Continuing to expand NATO eastward, encroaching on Russia, will only endanger the alliance.

Since December 2010, a series of uprisings, revolutions, coups and civil wars have shaken up the Middle East and North Africa region. In this chaotic political environment, several countries have been trying to influence this regional transformation. The implications of this transformation are of great importance for the region, its people and global politics. Using a rich combination of primary and secondary sources, elite interviews and content analysis, Yasemin Akbaba and Özgür Özdamar apply role theory to analyze ideational (e.g. identity, religion) and material (e.g. security, economy) sources of national role conceptions in Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The authors take a closer look at the transformation of these four powers’ foreign policies since the beginning of Arab uprisings, with a specific focus on religion. Each case study is written to a common template allowing for clear comparative analyses. Written in a clear and accessible style, Role Theory in the Middle East and North Africa offers a thought provoking and pioneering insight into the usefulness of role theory in foreign policy making in the developing world. The perfect combination of theoretically oriented and empirically rich analysis make this volume an ideal resource for scholars and researchers of International Relations, Foreign Policy, Middle East Politics and International Security.