1. Here’s an advance copy of ‘Politics from Afar: Transnational Diasporas and Networks.’ From the critics: ‘This is the most lucid and convincing work that I have seen explaining an increasingly important aspect of globalisation: the impact of migrant communities and diasporas on their home states.’ – Khalid Koser, Head of the New Issues in Security Programme, Geneva Centre for Security Policy First sentence: ‘In this opening chapter we advance – and then unpack – the relatively straightforward claim that informs all the contributions in this volume: namely, that political processes and outcomes within particular nation-states today are significantly impacted by the migrant communities and diasporas of those polities.’ Concluding remark (from the editors): ‘Diaspora politics, as revealed by the contributors to this volume, often occur across the fault-lines of American politics, comparative politics and international relations, thereby challenging the very spatial categories that have traditionally defined how we practice and study politics.’ 9781849041850 | Paperback | April 2012

    Here’s an advance copy of ‘Politics from Afar: Transnational Diasporas and Networks.’

    From the critics:

    ‘This is the most lucid and convincing work that I have seen explaining an increasingly important aspect of globalisation: the impact of migrant communities and diasporas on their home states.’

    – Khalid Koser, Head of the New Issues in Security Programme, Geneva Centre for Security Policy

    First sentence:

    ‘In this opening chapter we advance – and then unpack – the relatively straightforward claim that informs all the contributions in this volume: namely, that political processes and outcomes within particular nation-states today are significantly impacted by the migrant communities and diasporas of those polities.’

    Concluding remark (from the editors):

    ‘Diaspora politics, as revealed by the contributors to this volume, often occur across the fault-lines of American politics, comparative politics and international relations, thereby challenging the very spatial categories that have traditionally defined how we practice and study politics.’

    9781849041850 | Paperback | April 2012

  2. All at Hurst’s office were deeply saddened to learn of the deaths of Marie Colvin, a renowned war reporter currently working for the Sunday Times, and Rémi Olchik, an award-winning photographer, victims of the continued violence in Homs, Syria.

    Read here, in Marie’s words, why objective front-line war reporting is so important.

    Rémi Olchik’s first-place World Press Photo set.

    ‘The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe that enough people be they government, military or the man on the street, will care when your file reaches the printed page, the website or the TV screen.’

    Let’s hope that their efforts haven’t been in vain.

  3. Advances of ‘Fragments of the Afghan Frontier’ have arrived! From the critics: ‘If you think you know the Pakistan/Afghan frontier, think again. This innovative collaboration between an historian and an anthropologist has produced a remarkable and readable book that sheds new light on the dynamics of the region.  It will be a standard text for a very long time to come.’ – Charles Lindholm, University Professor of Anthropology, University of Boston, and author of Generosity and Jealousy: The Swat Pukhtun of Northern Pakistan First sentence: ‘The Afghan Frontier is a place beholden to imagination, myth and fiction.’ Concluding remark: ‘Yet, as we have sought to show, the Afghan Frontier is ultimately a social reality, one, like all others, that is being constructed in perpetuity.’ 9781849040723 | Hardback | March 2012

    Advances of ‘Fragments of the Afghan Frontier’ have arrived!

    From the critics:

    ‘If you think you know the Pakistan/Afghan frontier, think again. This innovative collaboration between an historian and an anthropologist has produced a remarkable and readable book that sheds new light on the dynamics of the region.  It will be a standard text for a very long time to come.’

    – Charles Lindholm, University Professor of Anthropology, University of Boston, and author of Generosity and Jealousy: The Swat Pukhtun of Northern Pakistan

    First sentence:

    ‘The Afghan Frontier is a place beholden to imagination, myth and fiction.’

    Concluding remark:

    ‘Yet, as we have sought to show, the Afghan Frontier is ultimately a social reality, one, like all others, that is being constructed in perpetuity.’

    9781849040723 | Hardback | March 2012

  4. Claude Meyer’s China or Japan: Which Will Lead Asia? has arrived! From the critics: ‘In this provocative and important book, Claude Meyer argues against the conventional wisdom that Japan’s future is past and that China will necessarily dominate the region.  Drawing on his long years of experience with China and Japan as a businessman and scholar, Meyer explains why the next decades in East Asia are going to be dominated by competition between China and Japan for political and economic power. In contrast to so many observers who have written Japan off as a declining power, Meyer puts his focus on Japan’s strengths as well as its weaknesses and the likelihood that it will play a central role in shaping the Asia of the future. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the future of the world economy’s most important region.’ – Gerald Curtis, Professor, Columbia University First sentence: ‘The Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and the Osaka Universal Explosion in 1970 symbolised the renaissance of Japan, which in 1968 became the “third great power” after the USA and the Soviet Union.’ Concluding remark: ‘The “helmsmen” who have succeeded Mao are well aware of the price of time, but they harbour the same dream as he did: to outstrip the United States and make China the new centre of the world.’ 9781849041720 | Hardback | Out Now

    Claude Meyer’s China or Japan: Which Will Lead Asia? has arrived!

    From the critics:

    ‘In this provocative and important book, Claude Meyer argues against the conventional wisdom that Japan’s future is past and that China will necessarily dominate the region.  Drawing on his long years of experience with China and Japan as a businessman and scholar, Meyer explains why the next decades in East Asia are going to be dominated by competition between China and Japan for political and economic power. In contrast to so many observers who have written Japan off as a declining power, Meyer puts his focus on Japan’s strengths as well as its weaknesses and the likelihood that it will play a central role in shaping the Asia of the future. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the future of the world economy’s most important region.’

    – Gerald Curtis, Professor, Columbia University

    First sentence:

    ‘The Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and the Osaka Universal Explosion in 1970 symbolised the renaissance of Japan, which in 1968 became the “third great power” after the USA and the Soviet Union.’

    Concluding remark:

    ‘The “helmsmen” who have succeeded Mao are well aware of the price of time, but they harbour the same dream as he did: to outstrip the United States and make China the new centre of the world.’

    9781849041720 | Hardback | Out Now

  5. An advance copy of forthcoming ‘Wars of Plunder: Conflicts, Profits and the Politics of Resources,’ by Philippe Le Billon. From the critics: ‘For anyone interested in war economies and what to do about them, this book is a real “must-read.” From Angola to Cambodia, from oil to timber, the author draws on two decades of scholarly research and field experience to paint a remarkable picture of the complex resource-conflict nexus: concise, and yet nuanced and comprehensive.’ –Gilles Carbonnier, Professor of Development Economics at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, and the editor-in-chief of International Development Policy First sentence: ‘Natural resources have a conspicuous presence in the history of armed conflicts.’ Concluding remark: ‘There is no doubt that such questions will continue to be asked, for Afghanistan and elsewhere. I hope that this book has contributed to providing some answers.’ 9781849041454 | Paperback | April 2012

    An advance copy of forthcoming ‘Wars of Plunder: Conflicts, Profits and the Politics of Resources,’ by Philippe Le Billon.

    From the critics:

    ‘For anyone interested in war economies and what to do about them, this book is a real “must-read.” From Angola to Cambodia, from oil to timber, the author draws on two decades of scholarly research and field experience to paint a remarkable picture of the complex resource-conflict nexus: concise, and yet nuanced and comprehensive.’

    –Gilles Carbonnier, Professor of Development Economics at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, and the editor-in-chief of International Development Policy

    First sentence:

    ‘Natural resources have a conspicuous presence in the history of armed conflicts.’

    Concluding remark:

    ‘There is no doubt that such questions will continue to be asked, for Afghanistan and elsewhere. I hope that this book has contributed to providing some answers.’

    9781849041454 | Paperback | April 2012

  6. Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn presenting at the IISS about their new book ‘An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban/Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan, 1970-2010.’

  7. Politics and Opposition in Kuwait →

    Kuwait Elections

    Kristian Coates Ulrichsen on Kuwait’s 2 February election results and the political future of the country.

  8. Does Salman Rushdie Exist? →

    Rushdie

    Faisal Devji looks deeper into the meaning of Rushdie’s non-appearance at the Jaipur Literary Festival.

  9. The Taliban/Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan? →

    Talqaeda

    The true relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. An interview with Alex Strick van Linschoten & Felix Kuehn.