Western Visions, Western Futures explores the interplay between western alienation and western aspirations. Because of regional optimism, western Canadians often feel alienated from the rest of Canada or, more specifically, from the federal government: western Canadians are concerned that their aspirations are not shared by the rest of Canada and, worse, that conflicting "national"policy choices and political realities have and will work to undermine the interests of the West. The book is rich in both data and history. Combining strong analysis with graphs and illustrative quotations, it presents a comprehensive overview of key western Canadian trends and policy issues and places these within a national context. Western Visions, Western Futures outlines a number of process and policy options for federal and provincial governments both to help fulfill western aspirations and to address western alienation. The authors argue that the future prosperity and well-being of Canada are integrally tied to the future of the West, and leaving western alienation unaddressed for another 50 or 100 years will only serve to weaken or destroy the whole country. Western Visions, Western Futures is a revised, updated, and expanded edition of Western Visions by Roger Gibbins and Sonia Arrison (Broadview Press 1995), there is little in common between the two books. Many of the themes are the same, but the new book draws heavily on a wealth of Canada West Foundation data that has recently come available.

Between 1960 and 2020, the population of West Africa will have increased fivefold, even with the most optimistic assumptions of increased contraceptive use. This unprecedented demographic explosion is accompanied by another major change: Exposure to ...

Alain-G. Gagnon and A. Brian Tanguay continue the work of earlier editions of Canadian Parties in Transition by presenting a multi-faceted image of party dynamics, electoral behaviour, political marketing, and representative democracy, with chapters written by an outstanding team of political scientists. Innovative features of the third edition include an examination of party alignments and the mobilization of interests, a discussion of democratic participation, and a critical exploration of direct democracy through referendums and other mechanisms. The comparative literature on party politics is brought in systematically to provide a better account of Canadian party politics. The greater part of this volume consists of entirely new chapters; others have been completely revised and updated. An appendix that provides Canadian federal election results from 1925 to 2006 rounds out the book.

"Area studies"--and especially Middle Eastern studies--have been in a state of crisis since the spread of globalization. This volume focuses on one of the field's leading institutions, Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), which was founded 50 years ago to further research and teaching about a region that remains enigmatic to the U.S.

From its earliest colonial days, America's attention has been turned firmly to the West: a land of hope and opportunity, but also an unexplored and little know wilderness about which people in the East could only dream.