Government and Politics Books

The book tells the dark story of how the Catholic church with its liberation theology fought a battle in Latin America defending the poor and oppressed peasants and Indians against landowners, rancheros, paramilitary police, US backed dictatorships and the CIA.

In Honduras the wealthy ranchers did not want to let the bishops fulfill their jobs since it increased agitation amongst the peasants. Hector Gallego was one priest who didn't let himself be silenced. He was killed when he was thrown in the pacific ocean from a helicopter by what believes to be agents from the Panamanian police. Canadian Protestant missionary Gilbet A.Reimer and Father Ivan Betancur where also victims of landowners violence against priests, landowners who called the new testament "a communist book". The CIA was "particularly valuable in providing full information on certain priests-personal data, studies, friends, addresses, writings, contact abroad, etc." Between 1975 and 1978 twelve foreign missionaries had been arrested and father Raymond Herman who worked with helping the Indians in Cochabamba in Bolivia was found strangled with two bullet wounds in the head.

The Banzer plan, named after the Bolivian dictator Hugo Banzer, was a plan developed to undermine the churches work in Bolivia. This plan was later adopted by 10 different Latin American countries. Support for anti-Marxist priests was also proposed. Bishop Pronao of Ecuador, who supported the impoverished Indians in that country against the wealthy landowners, said, "I am honored to be called a subversive. I hope that we are permanently subversive in the way that I have described. If we are living within a state or a system that is evidently not in accord with the designs of God, we must oppose it. In a sense Christ, too, was a subversive." The stories of priests who have been killed, disappeared or been tortured are not isolated incidents. A few major American companies made major economic gains by encouraging a political system that bred this kind of militarism, torture and repression against its citizens.

The Catholic Church has been severely denounced in Latin America by the US defense department for criticizing it. But what the Catholic Church was criticizing was really a rebirth of a kind of fascism in Latin America, a "Creole fascism". This was "a model for promoting economic development without changing the existing social conditions". This colonial fascisms marriage to capitalism intensified class differences and made the rich richer and the poor poorer. The United States was directly involved in the creation of military, police and paramilitary agencies responsible for torture and other atrocities in seventeen Latin American countries. Did it ever occur to the Americans that the reason for subversive movements, Marxist guerillas, or other disruptive elements did not have so much to do with a "communist threat" as it had to do with internal influences; like decades of dictatorship and repression. There was no way the US could admit that there may have been legitimate reasons for the subversive activities. Anything that went against the government was automatically labeled as "communist activities".

Between 1968-1969, 1000 marines helped the Guatemalan counterinsurgencies hunt down subversive peasants. Around 8000 peasants in total where killed. These groups where the forerunners of he infamous "white hand", a right wing vigilante group responsible for thousands of deaths. In 1970, 3200, trained Guatemalan policemen killed or had disappear 7000 people. The military intervention in all these Latin American countries made it almost impossible for the regular citizen to have any real involvement in politics. These dictatorships operated under the myth that they created "law and order" when in fact there where narcotic traffickers, black mailers, thieves and assassins for hire operating freely under these Para-military regimes. Many churches opposed these regimes and therefore made it clear that the real message of the gospels was to stand up for human rights. These priests who speak out have been denounced by their governments just like the humanitarian priest who spoke out 400 years ago by the colonialists. Many of these priests and bishops also rightly pointed the finger at the United States government for being involved in training army and police who destroyed Christian communities and murdered priests and nuns. A Brazilian bishop said, " Where it not for the guns, for the torture, and the terror, Brazils military regime could not survive. And were it not for this regime, foreign corporations could not continue to make enormous profits at the expense of the people. The government has all the legal instruments necessary to control the companies, and so has the United States, but the military ignores them."

Most Latin Americans know that US foreign policy is run by corporate interests. Many of the men who approved of CIA activities against democratically elected governments; assassination courses for the police were all "pillars of the US business community". Many of the Latin American coups have meant big payoffs for US corporations. In 1980 the richest man in Latin America earned 550,000 dollars a week while the poorest earned 90 dollars a year, the gap still widening. Bribes are very common even for the biggest American corporations. "Consumer democracy" was to replace political democracy. The Catholic Church objected to this because they thought that this model of development was a mask for privilege. There was only as small procent of the Latin American population that could afford things like refrigerators, cars or TVs. The theologian Jose Comblin says, " the economy is not supposed to produce for the people, but for foreign markets, for the military, and for a few privileged technocrats. This marginalization means that the masses do not work for themselves, or have any hope of advancing themselves through their work." Father Virggilio Rosa Netto from Brazil says: "The amazing thing is that so many of these technocrats have turned their backs on own earlier educations as Christians to adopt the religion of the global corporations."

In the Amazon nuns, bishops and priests are in "open, often violent conflict with the multinationals, local ranchers, the military and the police." This land that at one time relieved the pressure of overpopulation now has caused land-starved peasants to move by the millions into the inner city favelas. This is an "avalanche of human misery" that makes up the backbone of Brazils industrial wealth. In the bible there is a part in the first book of kings, chapter 21 that illustrates this story. The Amazon is about 83% of the size of the United States of America and is incredibly rich in natural resources. The indigenous people living here have no real rights and the basic attitude is that "the Indian cannot stand in the way of progress". Brazils Indian population has declined from 2 million at the beginning of the last century to 200.000 in 1963 and went down to 100,000 in 1978. Both American and European multinational corporations have cleared and taken over land that originally belonged to the Indians. They have also cleared large areas of the Amazon by using the same chemicals they used to clear out jungles in Vietnam.

During the 1960s many American Catholic missionaries where approached by the CIA to gather information about progressive priests in Latin America. Many of them where quite naïve and felt flattered by the attention. The CIA was playing god in Latin America, deciding who should be the next president, which people should be assassinated, even how the people should live. The CIA was using the religious groups in Latin America for their own secret ends. They supported right wing catholic groups and trained police that killed and tortured priests, nuns and bishops some of who where US citizens. The missionaries now started saying that you "cannot defend democracy by destroying it." The TFP group-Tradition, family and property, was a right winged catholic group that existed in several Latin American countries. They were wealthy and belonged to the upper class of the society. They wanted an old school church that saw the rich as having a divine right for owning all that they owned. They supported the CIA economically in staging many of the government coups in Latin America. The CIA in turn encouraged and supported the TFP. Therefore the CIA was accused by many Latin American bishops of "inciting one sector of the church to attack another."

Father Joao Bosco Penido Burnier was a Jesuit missionary who was shot in the head and killed when he tried to top two police men from torturing and raping two peasant women who were related to a man who had opposed himself to the police brutality in the Amazon. Bishop Hipolito was another Brazilian bishop who was kidnapped and beaten because he opposed the dictatorship. Father Tito de Alencar was a 29-year-old Dominican priest who was severely tortured for 40 days in a Brazilian prison. He later committed suicide after being let out of prison. The "institutionalization "of terror was rationalized by the US government and multinational corporations as something that was necessary for development. In Argentine during its dirty war between 1974 and 1976 the repression was even worse. Officially 9000 people went missing but some say the numbers are as big as 30000. The group "mothers of the disappeared" has since been formed consisting of mothers who still want to find out what happened to their sons and daughters under this torturous and brutal regime. The US government funded Argentina's regime and gave them extra money for police training. This police force was corrupt and according to Lernoux involved in drug trafficking. There was also a wave of anti Semitism in Argentina fueled by the hundreds of Nazis that the country had let in after World War 2. Argentina became the world center for the publication of anti-Semitic literature. The progressive Catholic Church was also persecuted. By the end of 1977 seventeen priests and nuns had been killed, thirty where in prison and Argentina's most vocal bishop Enrique Carletti had been killed in a fake auto accident. The situation in Mexico was tense as well with many priests being tortured for working for rights for the poor. There where several assassination attempts on a few of the countries bishops and one priest, father Rodolfo Aguilar, was killed. He was shot while working in an impoverished area trying to improve conditions for the poor there. A few weeks after another priest was killed called Father Rodolfo Escamilla. He had worked for 8 years in the slums trying to help the poor there organize themselves and organize cooperatives.

Poor Latin American Christians therefore view the bible as "a very revolutionary book". A book that from the beginning to the end tells the story of Jahves liberation of his people. The exodus story is the central event, where the people are freed from oppression. The oppression is from a political tyrant who has imposed on them an unjust economic order with unjust social structures. So it's a story about economic and political liberation too. The Old Testament prophets convey the same message. Attacking the corruption within the state of Israel and condemning those within the ruling classes who oppress the poor. Jesus as well stands in the same tradition as these prophets, the core of his message being "freedom to captives" and "liberation to the oppressed." Therefore if god took sides back then god is still doing it now, identifying with the oppressed. Earlier the church mostly has taken the side of the rich oppressor but this was starting to change in Latin America. If the church doesn't speak out against oppressors then they run the risk silently supporting them. Many Latin American peasants first saw the catholic imagery in their own way. God was the wealthy landowner who one had to bow down to and obey. While Jesus was the poor peasant or Indian who had been tortured and killed. They had difficulty viewing the symbolism of the resurrection. This came as a shock to many of the priests who started working more actively with the poor and left their comfortable positions of power. Gradually this view is starting to change with the spread of liberation theology. Here the teachings go against those of the colonial church. Instead of trying to force teachings on the people instead one tries to listen and learn from them. This opened up a more authentic dialogue between the church and the people. Smaller Christian communities started developing throughout Latin America where the principals of liberation theology where applied at a grassroots level. When the new pope came to Latin America in the late 1970s he denounced the situation in the continent speaking closely to Indians and other marginalized groups saying that the church was on their side. After this a new document was drafted by all Latin American bishops that strongly took the side of the poor and the oppressed. On the other hand there was a more conservative vein within the church that opposed these progressive liberation theologians.

The American bishop in El Paso said: "The use of capital and the development of a corporate economy have without doubt produced great benefits for mankind. But it has become increasingly evident that large corporations reaching across national boundaries drain natural resources and labor from poor countries primarily for the benefit of a small proportion of affluent people in the world. Such an ordering of the world economy is immoral and must be rejected and fought by the church. It is not sufficient to weep for the priest who is martyred by the regime in Brazil, without acting to prevent the complicity of the United States of America in that act of murder. The system that we know it holds in bondage, not only those who are exploited to maintain a flow of wealth largely in one direction, but it also holds in the bondage of unslaked thirst for goods and power and sense of superiority those who reap the benefit."

The book tells the dark story of how the Catholic church with its liberation theology fought a battle in Latin America defending the poor and oppressed peasants and Indians against landowners, rancheros, paramilitary police, US backed dictatorships and the CIA.

In Honduras the wealthy ranchers did not want to let the bishops fulfill their jobs since it increased agitation amongst the peasants. Hector Gallego was one priest who didn't let himself be silenced. He was killed when he was thrown in the pacific ocean from a helicopter by what believes to be agents from the Panamanian police. Canadian Protestant missionary Gilbet A.Reimer and Father Ivan Betancur where also victims of landowners violence against priests, landowners who called the new testament "a communist book". The CIA was "particularly valuable in providing full information on certain priests-personal data, studies, friends, addresses, writings, contact abroad, etc." Between 1975 and 1978 twelve foreign missionaries had been arrested and father Raymond Herman who worked with helping the Indians in Cochabamba in Bolivia was found strangled with two bullet wounds in the head.

The Banzer plan, named after the Bolivian dictator Hugo Banzer, was a plan developed to undermine the churches work in Bolivia. This plan was later adopted by 10 different Latin American countries. Support for anti-Marxist priests was also proposed. Bishop Pronao of Ecuador, who supported the impoverished Indians in that country against the wealthy landowners, said, "I am honored to be called a subversive. I hope that we are permanently subversive in the way that I have described. If we are living within a state or a system that is evidently not in accord with the designs of God, we must oppose it. In a sense Christ, too, was a subversive." The stories of priests who have been killed, disappeared or been tortured are not isolated incidents. A few major American companies made major economic gains by encouraging a political system that bred this kind of militarism, torture and repression against its citizens.

The Catholic Church has been severely denounced in Latin America by the US defense department for criticizing it. But what the Catholic Church was criticizing was really a rebirth of a kind of fascism in Latin America, a "Creole fascism". This was "a model for promoting economic development without changing the existing social conditions". This colonial fascisms marriage to capitalism intensified class differences and made the rich richer and the poor poorer. The United States was directly involved in the creation of military, police and paramilitary agencies responsible for torture and other atrocities in seventeen Latin American countries. Did it ever occur to the Americans that the reason for subversive movements, Marxist guerillas, or other disruptive elements did not have so much to do with a "communist threat" as it had to do with internal influences; like decades of dictatorship and repression. There was no way the US could admit that there may have been legitimate reasons for the subversive activities. Anything that went against the government was automatically labeled as "communist activities".

Between 1968-1969, 1000 marines helped the Guatemalan counterinsurgencies hunt down subversive peasants. Around 8000 peasants in total where killed. These groups where the forerunners of he infamous "white hand", a right wing vigilante group responsible for thousands of deaths. In 1970, 3200, trained Guatemalan policemen killed or had disappear 7000 people. The military intervention in all these Latin American countries made it almost impossible for the regular citizen to have any real involvement in politics. These dictatorships operated under the myth that they created "law and order" when in fact there where narcotic traffickers, black mailers, thieves and assassins for hire operating freely under these Para-military regimes. Many churches opposed these regimes and therefore made it clear that the real message of the gospels was to stand up for human rights. These priests who speak out have been denounced by their governments just like the humanitarian priest who spoke out 400 years ago by the colonialists. Many of these priests and bishops also rightly pointed the finger at the United States government for being involved in training army and police who destroyed Christian communities and murdered priests and nuns. A Brazilian bishop said, " Where it not for the guns, for the torture, and the terror, Brazils military regime could not survive. And were it not for this regime, foreign corporations could not continue to make enormous profits at the expense of the people. The government has all the legal instruments necessary to control the companies, and so has the United States, but the military ignores them."

Most Latin Americans know that US foreign policy is run by corporate interests. Many of the men who approved of CIA activities against democratically elected governments; assassination courses for the police were all "pillars of the US business community". Many of the Latin American coups have meant big payoffs for US corporations. In 1980 the richest man in Latin America earned 550,000 dollars a week while the poorest earned 90 dollars a year, the gap still widening. Bribes are very common even for the biggest American corporations. "Consumer democracy" was to replace political democracy. The Catholic Church objected to this because they thought that this model of development was a mask for privilege. There was only as small procent of the Latin American population that could afford things like refrigerators, cars or TVs. The theologian Jose Comblin says, " the economy is not supposed to produce for the people, but for foreign markets, for the military, and for a few privileged technocrats. This marginalization means that the masses do not work for themselves, or have any hope of advancing themselves through their work." Father Virggilio Rosa Netto from Brazil says: "The amazing thing is that so many of these technocrats have turned their backs on own earlier educations as Christians to adopt the religion of the global corporations."

In the Amazon nuns, bishops and priests are in "open, often violent conflict with the multinationals, local ranchers, the military and the police." This land that at one time relieved the pressure of overpopulation now has caused land-starved peasants to move by the millions into the inner city favelas. This is an "avalanche of human misery" that makes up the backbone of Brazils industrial wealth. In the bible there is a part in the first book of kings, chapter 21 that illustrates this story. The Amazon is about 83% of the size of the United States of America and is incredibly rich in natural resources. The indigenous people living here have no real rights and the basic attitude is that "the Indian cannot stand in the way of progress". Brazils Indian population has declined from 2 million at the beginning of the last century to 200.000 in 1963 and went down to 100,000 in 1978. Both American and European multinational corporations have cleared and taken over land that originally belonged to the Indians. They have also cleared large areas of the Amazon by using the same chemicals they used to clear out jungles in Vietnam.

During the 1960s many American Catholic missionaries where approached by the CIA to gather information about progressive priests in Latin America. Many of them where quite naïve and felt flattered by the attention. The CIA was playing god in Latin America, deciding who should be the next president, which people should be assassinated, even how the people should live. The CIA was using the religious groups in Latin America for their own secret ends. They supported right wing catholic groups and trained police that killed and tortured priests, nuns and bishops some of who where US citizens. The missionaries now started saying that you "cannot defend democracy by destroying it." The TFP group-Tradition, family and property, was a right winged catholic group that existed in several Latin American countries. They were wealthy and belonged to the upper class of the society. They wanted an old school church that saw the rich as having a divine right for owning all that they owned. They supported the CIA economically in staging many of the government coups in Latin America. The CIA in turn encouraged and supported the TFP. Therefore the CIA was accused by many Latin American bishops of "inciting one sector of the church to attack another."

Father Joao Bosco Penido Burnier was a Jesuit missionary who was shot in the head and killed when he tried to top two police men from torturing and raping two peasant women who were related to a man who had opposed himself to the police brutality in the Amazon. Bishop Hipolito was another Brazilian bishop who was kidnapped and beaten because he opposed the dictatorship. Father Tito de Alencar was a 29-year-old Dominican priest who was severely tortured for 40 days in a Brazilian prison. He later committed suicide after being let out of prison. The "institutionalization "of terror was rationalized by the US government and multinational corporations as something that was necessary for development. In Argentine during its dirty war between 1974 and 1976 the repression was even worse. Officially 9000 people went missing but some say the numbers are as big as 30000. The group "mothers of the disappeared" has since been formed consisting of mothers who still want to find out what happened to their sons and daughters under this torturous and brutal regime. The US government funded Argentina's regime and gave them extra money for police training. This police force was corrupt and according to Lernoux involved in drug trafficking. There was also a wave of anti Semitism in Argentina fueled by the hundreds of Nazis that the country had let in after World War 2. Argentina became the world center for the publication of anti-Semitic literature. The progressive Catholic Church was also persecuted. By the end of 1977 seventeen priests and nuns had been killed, thirty where in prison and Argentina's most vocal bishop Enrique Carletti had been killed in a fake auto accident. The situation in Mexico was tense as well with many priests being tortured for working for rights for the poor. There where several assassination attempts on a few of the countries bishops and one priest, father Rodolfo Aguilar, was killed. He was shot while working in an impoverished area trying to improve conditions for the poor there. A few weeks after another priest was killed called Father Rodolfo Escamilla. He had worked for 8 years in the slums trying to help the poor there organize themselves and organize cooperatives.

Poor Latin American Christians therefore view the bible as "a very revolutionary book". A book that from the beginning to the end tells the story of Jahves liberation of his people. The exodus story is the central event, where the people are freed from oppression. The oppression is from a political tyrant who has imposed on them an unjust economic order with unjust social structures. So it's a story about economic and political liberation too. The Old Testament prophets convey the same message. Attacking the corruption within the state of Israel and condemning those within the ruling classes who oppress the poor. Jesus as well stands in the same tradition as these prophets, the core of his message being "freedom to captives" and "liberation to the oppressed." Therefore if god took sides back then god is still doing it now, identifying with the oppressed. Earlier the church mostly has taken the side of the rich oppressor but this was starting to change in Latin America. If the church doesn't speak out against oppressors then they run the risk silently supporting them. Many Latin American peasants first saw the catholic imagery in their own way. God was the wealthy landowner who one had to bow down to and obey. While Jesus was the poor peasant or Indian who had been tortured and killed. They had difficulty viewing the symbolism of the resurrection. This came as a shock to many of the priests who started working more actively with the poor and left their comfortable positions of power. Gradually this view is starting to change with the spread of liberation theology. Here the teachings go against those of the colonial church. Instead of trying to force teachings on the people instead one tries to listen and learn from them. This opened up a more authentic dialogue between the church and the people. Smaller Christian communities started developing throughout Latin America where the principals of liberation theology where applied at a grassroots level. When the new pope came to Latin America in the late 1970s he denounced the situation in the continent speaking closely to Indians and other marginalized groups saying that the church was on their side. After this a new document was drafted by all Latin American bishops that strongly took the side of the poor and the oppressed. On the other hand there was a more conservative vein within the church that opposed these progressive liberation theologians. Later Ratzinger turned on the liberation theologians and started a new inquisition against them. Read more about this in Penny Lernouxs book "People of god".

The American bishop in El Paso said: "The use of capital and the development of a corporate economy have without doubt produced great benefits for mankind. But it has become increasingly evident that large corporations reaching across national boundaries drain natural resources and labor from poor countries primarily for the benefit of a small proportion of affluent people in the world. Such an ordering of the world economy is immoral and must be rejected and fought by the church. It is not sufficient to weep for the priest who is martyred by the regime in Brazil, without acting to prevent the complicity of the United States of America in that act of murder. The system that we know it holds in bondage, not only those who are exploited to maintain a flow of wealth largely in one direction, but it also holds in the bondage of unslaked thirst for goods and power and sense of superiority those who reap the benefit."

I really think that book is the best book I ever Read!!! I am only 14 . Now I know what's going on on this planet.I really enjoy the book because it happens all the time. I know we can't stop them and how difficult it most be for the family of the victims,just don't make them mad so nothing is gonna happend with you! I write everything like I would write it in 1000 words. Thanks for your attention, Justine (14, Belgium)

I really think that book is the best book I ever Read!!! I am only 14 . Now I know what's going on on this planet.I really enjoy the book because it happens all the time. I know we can't stop them and how difficult it most be for the family of the victims,just don't make them mad so nothing is gonna happend with you! I write everything like I would write it in 1000 words.

You have spelled the author's name wrong. My name is Yale Richmond, and the paper edition of the book was published in 2004, not 2000.

Yale Richmond

Cultural Exchange highlights the intrinsic events within the educational system, that is, the exchange program between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union by the ideas that it helped to foster. It gives you a detailed, well researched account of the events that led to these programs, as well as many small entertaining tid-bits such as students in the program who were afraid to do anything because they thought the CIA was working with the KGB. All in all, a synopsis of the book is not needed here, just pick it up yourself if you have an interest in the Cold War and/or the events that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union, to see for yourself what lies within the book.

Other recommendations along with this title:
New Myth, New World, from Nietzsche and Stalinism
Toilet: The Novel (A Tribute to the Literary Works of Franz Kafka)

Scholarly and illuminating, Richmond's book colorfully documents official, government Soviet-American cultural exchanges that began after Stalin died in 1953, and helped to break down barriers of fear and ignorance, at a time that many of us felt the Cold War was freezing all contact.

These cultural exchanges involved books, movies, writers, performing artists, scientists, technologists, think tanks, politicans, and scholars.

Richmond writes eloquently, liberally using quotes of people who took part in the exchanges. One was organized by Gerald Mikkelson, professor of Slavic languages and literature at the University of Kansas, and it flourished in the 1970s and 80s. From several days to several weeks, Soviet writers came to the university, experienced the Midwest, and went away forever changed.

"Those visits to Kansas," says Mikkelson, "not only broadened their horizons culturally and ideologically, and gave them plenty of food for thought that sometimes got translated into specific literary works or images, but it added to their prestige and emboldened them at home in their efforts to make the Soviet Union a more livable place for writers and people in the other creative and performing arts."

Imagine a Soviet writer being plunked down in Kansas!
And other new places!
The same for Americans in the Soviet Union!

Some Soviet scholars were not allowed to take part, because the Soviet Foreign Travel Commission didn't think they were "reliable" to travel abroad, for whatever reasons. One of them was Soviet professor George Mirsky, a Middle East expert, who whole-heartedly encouraged his students at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations to go on such exchanges.

Mirsky writes, "Before the exchange, people believed that Western society, no matter how wealthy and affluent, was narrowly materialistic, devoid of any humanism and spirituality, selfish and arrogant, indifferent to moral, cultural, and artistic values, full of hostility for Russians and of anti-Communist crusading spirit.

"What amazed them was American hospitality, warmth, willingness to oblige, civility and politeness, lack of ethnic prejudices, care for disabled, richness of artistic life, pluralism of opinions, abundance of associations. The Soviets were able for the first time in their lives to see a functioning civil society. This was a great surprise...The exchange visitors would never be the same again."

As a musician and lover of the arts, I especially enjoyed the chapter on performing arts, with highlights of American impresario Sol Hurok's success in bringing Soviet musicians, dance troupes, ice shows, and circuses to the U.S. As a child, I had seen some of these performances, but not been aware of their long-range effect! Reciprocal trips took such Amerian writers as Norman Cousins, Robert Lowell, and Edward Albee, and such groups as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the American Ballet Theatre, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to the Soviet Union.

These cultural exchanges paved the way for the the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev to the presidency of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev and his wife had done a great deal of foreign travel in the 1970s and 80s, and loved it. They saw that another world existed beyond their country. As president, Gorbachev opened the door even farther and moved the Soviet Union forward to help end the Cold War.

I love this book because it is informative, inspiring, and written with obvious relish and passion. Richmond was there, working on these exchanges, helping to get people talking, and opening up their minds. He records this first-hand. Who else can tell such a great story so well? I recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn, to understand more about history, and to appreciate the people who changed it. Bravi!

The jacket of Richmond's book states that this work "demonstrates that the best policy to pursue with countries with whom we disagree is not isolation but engagement." Whether or not this is universally true, a very strong case is made for this argument in this study of cultural exchanges during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.

The exchanges between the two countries were initiated by President Eisenhower in a letter to Bulganin, the Soviet head of state, and were begun in 1958. Whatever concerns there might have been about potential Soviet espionage, the program found approval even from FBI Director J. Edger Hoover. Richmond demonstrates the wisdom of this program as thousands of Russians and Americans participated in these exchanges which continued up to the time when the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

The book's table of contents provides early clues to the range of the program. There were exchanges of scholars in science and in the political and social sciences, exchanges of scientists and technicians for conferences and participation in working groups, exchanges of journalists and diplomats, and the well publicized exchanges of performing artists in ballet, music and theater. Students in the exchange program often remained in the host country for several years; scientists and technicians only for the several weeks of a conference or working group.

The background to the exchange rogram is provided through citations from the reports of American administrators and scholars associated with it and through personal interviews in which they describe the difficulties of implementation in the face of bureaucratic obstacles from two mutually suspicious countries. It is the interviews with the exchange participants, however, which is at the very heart of this quiet but remarkable story. Of particular interest are the interviews with dozens of participants from the Soviet Union.

This reader was arrested by the positions held by the Soviet participants at the time of their arrival in the U.S. and by what became of them and their careers on their return to the home country. In contrast with the American exchange scholars who came largely out of academia, many from the Soviet appear to have held government positions when they arrived in the U.S. or at some earlier time. The nature of some of these positions is especially surprising to the lay reader. Among four students who came to study at Columbia University, for example, two were in the KGB, one in Soviet military intelligence, and the fourth in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. These backgrounds do not appear to have been exceptional among Soviet exchange scholars.

It is not certain from Richmond's reports if expsure to the U.S. through this program was, in general, an advantage or handicap to Soviet participants' careers on their return home. Nevertheless, it is evident from some of the case studies that some achieved positions of great influence. Alexander Yakolev, for example, became a senior advisor to Gorbechev and is known as the "godfather of glasnost." Rem Khoklov was awarded the Lenin Prize for his scientific research and became a member of the Soviet Parliament. What may have been of importance even greater than those who reached high positions, however, is that many scholars were inthe government and on the job when the Soviet Union collapsed and were prepared for the social and economic changes which were to come.

At a time of increasing barriers to those who would enter the U.S. as students or observers, CULTURAL EXCHANGES AND THE COLD WAR demonstrates the value of openness even during the most stressful periods of the Cold War. American leaders coming from a broad political spectrum took the risk of allowing access to this country by students and leaders from our most feared competitor. From this there appears to have been an unimagined payoff.

Most of the times, academics are enclosed in a bubble far away from real life. This book is exactly the contrary: Culture and Equality offers a vigourous defense of egalitarian liberalism regarding minorities' rights.
The book can be easily read since it was written in a succint delicious prose (with some gestes of humour).
Every responsible citizen should read this book in order to form a well opinion of what multiculturalism is and how it will change our societies.

Barry's work is presented as an egalitarian critique of multiculturalism. The work argues against much of the recent theoretical literature on multiculturalism (most notably W Kymlicka, IM Young, and B Parekh), but takes a more positive stance on reasserting the basic values of liberal egalitarianism--i.e., that individuals ought to have the ability to make and exercise rights claims as individuals, not as members of collective cultural groups. Barry goes through a number of case studies, such as the case of Sikhs in Britain on safety laws to explore whether what he calls "rule and exception" approaches to public policy are consistent with liberal values. He looks in depth at issues of religion and education.

The book is important for at least two reasons. One, the argument draws on empirical case studies which is intertwined with the theoretical material--a rare achievement in political theory. Two, the work challenges so much of the underlying assumptions in multicultural thinking. It is a breath of fresh air to read a tightly argued criticism of the kind of PC nonsense that passes for scholarship these days.

This book is likely to be greatly misunderstood. In this 'egalitarian critique of multiculturalism', Barry is not trotting out the tired right-wing argument that minorities don't deserve 'special treatment' etc., Rather, Barry contends that the best way to help those least advantaged is not by engaging in a politics of difference, but rather ensuring that all are guaranteed the full benefits of citizenship.

Barry wants to move away from the view that cultural rights are of prime importance so as to facilate a more inclusive social model. He gives several examples to illustrate how the politics of difference is ultimately self-defeating and non-sensical. These range from the rights of the Ahmish, to the issue of Quebec separatism.

The discussion of authors such as Kymlicka, Parekh, and Iris Young is very illuminating and to the point. He exposes the weaknesses in their arguments without marginalizing their concerns about the rights of minorities.

I read an earlier draft of this work and was blown away by the wit and energy Barry brings to bear here. This is a work by a top - notch scholar, which should be read by anyone who is interested in just what multiculturalism means.

In his book "Culture and Equality: an Egalitarian Cririque of Multiculturalism", Brian Barry convincingly argues that multiculturalism is not only a threat to liberalism, but - as in the case of communitarianism - gave the green light to practices that might well open a road that could end with Stalin or Hitler. The concept of "group rights", the claims of religious groups to self-government in internal affairs and the demands for specific minority practices and legal exemptions from general rules for members of minority groups fragments society and condemns liberal rights.
Multiculturalism can lead to the reification of cultural groups: "What we might find out by experience is that institutionalizing group representation offers opportunities and incentives for political entrepreneurs to whip up intragroup solidarity and intergroup hostility in the pursuit of power. And indeed this has happened all over the world virtually every time group representation has been introduced."
By attributing rights to cultural groups rather than individuals, one risks reifying cultures in a way that is not the case when rights are established for individuals. Eroding the universal framework to which all should abide in liberal democracies, undermine individual rights and the principles of justice. The `rule and exemption' approach - which establishes the right of cultural groups to make claims that place them outside the parameters of the law applied to others , sets a precedent which ultimately delegitimises the law. It is absurd to establish a framework of law and then undermine the universal application of the law by exempting some groups from it. Any liberal system of justice must apply the law on an equal basis. For Barry, a liberal egalitarian approach to contemporary politics requires a universal set of laws that provide a systematic framework under which everyone can live equally regardless of their private differences. Indeed it is incumbent on the state to establish a liberal system whereby individuals are able to pursue their private perceptions of the good to the greatest extent as long as that does not involve practices that infringe the law.

Brian Barry calls for a renewed attention to the concept of universal rights: "[Universal] rules define a choice set which is the same for everybody; within that choice set people pick a particular course of action by deciding what is best calculated to satisfy their underlying preferences for outcomes. . . . If uniform rules create identical choice sets, then opportunities are equal."
In his view, cultural differences are not problematic because "within a liberal state all groups are free to deploy their energies and recourses in pursuit of culturally derived objectives on the same terms."
Barry's critique of those multiculturalists who seek an alternative for liberalism is indeed devastating because he shows that their approaches conflict with basic liberal values.

This is a brilliant analysis of a deep and troubling tendency in American culture. If you have time for only one serious book this summer, let this be the one--while it is an erudite examination of vengeance across time and place, it has special relevance for the upcoming election.

Thought-provoking, chilling, keenly insightful and extremely readable. Drawing on popular culture, philosophy, political theory, contemporary mythology, religion and headline news, Aladjem deftly examines and explores vengeance as it relates to America. Beautifully written.

Professor Aladjem supports his observations about our vengeful society with the works of our civilization's philosophers. With words from Sartre, Nietzche, the Bible, and even a joke from Freud, he presents the reader with insights and observations we must face if we are to progress as a people. He looks at the myth of closure, the struggle to be treated fairly by life, and the influence media has on our self-perception. This book would be a useful addition to any student or teacher who wishes to understand the difference between self-destructive and biased reactions and reasoned and thoughtful responsibility.

Gliding with surety from Greek tragedy to legal theory to Oprah, Aladjem casts a keen eye on some terrifying impulses in American culture. Why do we want vengeance? Why do we want to see our enemies in pain? How can we save justice and democracy, and do we even want to? The Culture of Vengeance is academic writing that bursts from the Ivory Tower. It helps us reckon, unflinchingly, with a world in which we suffer and wound, punish and plead, rage and--at our best, and as Aladjem shows us--reason.

This book deserves its reputation as a classic. Redman's story-telling skills are wonderful, he writes well, and clearly explains everything going on in the sometimes arcane world of legislative procedure. He makes the dullest-seeming motions and committee hearings come alive.

Scholars of the Congress should read this, if for no other reason than to get a basic handle on how the Congress actually works, rather than how they think it works in fancy regression analyses. But more than that, it's the starting point for a whole genre of work such as Showdown at Gucci Culch, Conflict and Compromise, and The Bill (all of which are must-reads as well). Even a casual observer of politics can get excited and interested.

This book is the most informative and best written book I have ever read on politics. It's filled with humor and candid comments about the United States Congress.

This book makes me nostalgic for the days when Members of Congress cooperated & got things accomplished. Great vignettes of Maggie! Very accurate rendition.

The year was 1970, President Nixon was still in office, however, an intern by the name of Eric Redman was on hand in the halls of Congress to witness the fascinating dance of legislation as The National Health Service Corps was attempting to be born. This book provides a personal account of the birth and struggles of the attempt to pass a piece of legislation from within the private confines of who was then the second most powerful United States Senator, Warren Magnuson from the State of Washington. While the names have changed, the struggle for a balance between power, influence, and social consciousness and survival remains the same. This book is as fantastic look behind the scenes of the most influential body of power on earth contains the essential ingredients today as a quarter of a century ago. It is a must read for anyone with an interest in political legislation and stands alone in its own right as a factual story that is as fascinating and compelling as any! fictional novel you will ever read.

The 2008 edition of Darfur: A New History of a Long War, by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal, is an essential reading about the current conflict in Darfur. The book gives a short overview of the history of Darfur and its people - from independent sultanate, annexation by the Anglo-Egyptian condominium, colonial times, to Sudan's independence.

Authors blame the British colonialists and Sudanese governments after independence for the lack of development in Darfur. They assert that Arab supremacy and racism, preached from Libya and the Sudanese capital, have caused divisions and animosity between "Arabs" and "Africans" in Darfur in the 1980s and 1990s, culminating with the conflict that began in 2003.

Flint and de Waal closely look at the links between the Sudanese government and "Arab" militias, called Janjaweed, claiming that there is enough evidence that proves that the government of Sudan is using the militias as a proxy in the Darfur conflict. They write about the Darfur rebel movements and their leaders, noting tribal divisions among the rebels and the crimes committed by the "African" rebels against "Arab" civilians.

Authors examine the international community's reaction to the conflict and the Abuja peace talks that culminated in 2006 with the Darfur Peace Agreement that was signed by the Sudanese government and only one rebel faction, but did not bring peace. They end the book with a chapter titled Endless Chaos, having little hope that the Darfur conflict could be ended any time soon.

It is important to note that the authors, for whatever reason, have not mentioned China once in the entire book. As a major world player that has oil interests in Sudan and is preventing any sanctions or condemnation of the Khartoum regime, China must be mentioned in a book about the current conflict in Darfur.

This book is a valuable asset to any library. The only problem I had with this book is trying to read Swahili. I took Introduction to Swahili 101 at Oklahoma City Junior College, but I guess that just was not good enough.

There are plenty of serious human rights abuses in Africa which Westerners, particularly American corporations and arms dealers have strong complicity in: the 4 million dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi, Equatorial Guinea under Teodor Obiang, Chad under Idriss Deby, Uganda under Museveni. One can also mention the horrors of the neoliberal economic model which African governments have followed so studiously. But Sudan and Zimbabwe seem to take up 90 percent of recent Western media reporting about abuses in the region. Both governments, vile as they certainly are, have struck independent courses via US power over the years and so are demonized in the US media. Former Senator John Danforth, US ambassador to the UN in 2004, stated on British tv in 2005 that the main reason the Bush administration made noises about Darfur in the election year of 04' was to please the voting block of fundamentalist Christians who have long believed the Sudanese regime to be satanic.

There is plenty of stuff in this book about the barbaric atrocities of the Sudanese government and the Janjiweed, the paramilitary force which acts as a proxy for the Sudanese military in Darfur.. In Darfur, the driving Arab supremacist ideology was rooted in the "Arab Gathering" group which emerged under the backing of Colonel Qadaffi of Libya in the 70's and 80's. Many in Sudan's government have been influenced by this ideology. The authors provide much quotation from these brethren who stress the need to make Darfur a purely Arab homeland and to cleanse it of non-Arab elements. Qadaffi funded the Sudanese Islamist/Arab nationalist groups Ansar and Muslim Brothers against his enemy, Sudan's then dictator Jafarr Nimieri in the 70's and early 80's. Many in these groups ended up in positions of power after the Islamist regime took power in June 1989. Qadaffi also funded Arab supremacists in Chad during the 80's, many of whom found refuge in Darfur and have since made not insignificant contributions to the violence there.

It also appears from the authors' discourse that the conflict is driven by the struggle for land and water in an area which has seen much drought, and a dwindling supply of water and arable land.....
The authors point out that Arabs of the Bagarra Rizeigat--to which the majority of Arabs in Darfur belong--have kept out of the conflict.... A not insignificant number of the janjiweed are violent criminals released from Sudan's prisons to serve in that body......

Bagarra Rizeigat have protected refugees from Janjiweed terror. The Bagarra Rizeigat chief, Saeed Madibu has resisted efforts by the Khartoum government to bribe him and terrorize him into submission. The authors seem to imply that most of the Arab tribal elites in Darfur would greatly prefer peaceful social, political and commercial interaction between Arabs and African tribes instead of the apopaclyptic ideology of a Darfur cleansed of all black people that Janjiweed leaders profess. Saeed Madibu, in a contumacious act to the Khartoum government, has resurrected meetings of Darfurian tribal elders to negotiate in an equitable fashion, land and resource issues.

One of the two Darfurian opposition groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) is divided between two tribal based factions, the Fur, led by Abdel Wahid and the Zaghawa, led by Minnie Minawi. These two groups spend alot of time making war upon each other, rather than upon the Sudanese army and Janjaweed. They mention that the SLA, perhaps a joint action of the two factions, attacked Bagarra Rizeigat territory in the Summer of 2004 and burned villages, stole livestock and engaged in other such activities at which the Janjiweed are such experts but Said Madibu's forces drove them out of their land.

The JEM is much more sophisticated. Islamists disillusioned with the extreme corruption and violence of the Khartoum regime seem to make up a significant part of the JEM's leadership. In interviews with one or another of the authors, the JEM leaders disavow any association with Hassan Al-Turabi, the Islamist scholar who was Sudan's de facto ruler throughout the 90's until he lost a power struggle with the country's president General Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in 2000 and was thrown into prison. Turabi had attracted many to his cause in the 70's and 80's because he spoke of a brotherhood of Muslims regardless of race and spoke out against the extreme corruption and inequality in Sudan's society. JEM leaders, according to the authors' interview of them, think that Turabi is a disgusting fraud and don't want anything to do with him. However many of them are specifically committed to setting up an Islamic state in the Sudan, which they say will grant freedom of worship to other faiths and will fullfill the ideals of honesty and equality in government that Turabi's variety of Islamists promised back in the 80's but have made such a mockery of in practice. The leaders of the JEM are often former national and regional officials under the current regime and provide the authors with stories probably containing at least some truth, illustrating their own virtue when they were in the service of the current regime, in the midst of grotesque brutality and corruption.

The authors mention the US and UK backed Naivasha accords that ended the civil war in Southern Sudan in 2005. In that accord the oil revenues are to be evenly divided between North and South, the SPLA has become the autonomous ruler of the South and army units in the capital are divided 50/50 in membership between the SPLA and the Sudanese army. SPLA leader John Garang was made first vice president of Sudan but he died in a mysterious plane crash shortly after the Naivasha accords. However the war criminals in both the Sudan government and the SPLA were granted amnesty from prosecution.....The authors note the desire for stability in south Sudan with its strategically important oil wealth by the US and UK, the Naivasha accord backers. Darfur in contrast has no important resources.

People professionally concerned with genocide prevention and Darfur recommended this short but outstanding book (there are quite a few others on the crisis) when I needed to supplement my knowledge quickly. Its 134 pages of condensed information are based on prolonged and detailed work in the region and with people who know it well. The complexity of Darfur and its crisis as well as its relationship to other regions of Sudan emerge with balance, but with a clear picture of the horrors being committed. It enlarged my knowledge greatly beyond what I had gleaned from the media and a few days spent with some refugees from Darfur. It discusses events up to early 2005, its publication year, so is not quite up to date. The experts recommended it despite pointing this out, and I'm glad they did.

Mr. O'Clery puts a lot of background information into something most Americans know little about. There is always a lot going on in the background in any diplomatic activity. This is something that Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore missed out on where they should have publicized it more. Mr. Bush, Cheney and McCain - the "you don't talk to your adversaries who are always evil - clique need to read this especially in light of the success of ending the violence in Ireland.

In Ireland, Ulster and Britain, the book was titled "The Greening of the White House" - a much more apt title. That said, it shows how the Clinton administration is committed to shafting Ulster. No fence-sitting here. The US government under Clinton has underwritten pan-Irish national-chauvinist ambitions.

Conor O'Clery knows how to tell a story. Often politics and foreign policy get bogged down in minutae or are blunted by excessive academic language; this is definitely not the case here. The feel when reading Daring Diplomacy is one of being spirited along in back rooms and pubs to see how deals get done and meet those involved. The telling is personal, insightful, and deftly aware of the entangled connections in Irish policy.
If you are reading this as a student, I heartily recommend it. You will find the backstory gives a well-rounded look into some of the reasons why peace in N. Ireland has been so elusive (namely the British government). If you are just reading it for personal reasons, I think you will be quite happy with your choice. A good companion book after this one is George Mitchell's "Making Peace."

Daring Diplomacy was the perfect title for this wonderfully written book. Throughout the course of this book, Conor O'Clery traces the involvement of the Clinton administration in attaining a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Northern Ireland. What is most refreshing about this book is its wholehearted attempt to be honest and balanced--an honor not bestowed on many books written on the conflict in Northern Ireland. From Clinton's commitment during the 1992 presidential election campaign until immediately following the end of the IRA's ceasefire, this book chronicles the efforts of the Clinton Administration to involve all parties in discussions regarding the future status of Northern Ireland. The U.S., at times seeming to threaten the "special relationship" between itself and Britain contributed much to the current political situation in Northern Ireland--one in which we now have Loyalist and Republican ceasefires and a forum for talks on political representation. Daring Diplomacy gives f

The native population on Rongelap were in close proximity and downwind of a 15-megaton H-bomb test. Jane Dibblin provides an investigative reporter's account of the devestating impact on the islanders.

I read this book several years ago. Excellent, but extremely thought provoking. Be warned, it is very upfront and to the point, in regards to what the U.S. government did to the people in the Marshall Islands.

I read this book several years ago. Excellent, but extremely thought provoking. Be warned, it is very upfront and to the point, in regards to what the U.S. government did to the people in the Marshall Islands.

This book is an interesting look at the nuclear testing the U.S. did in the Pacific Islands. It is a great book when you must write a paper on the subject, because of its understandability. I would recommend that anybody who wants to know about the horrors that the Islanders went through during the testing and the aftermath of testing should take a look at this book.

Much of the debate about climate change (global warming) has focused on short-term details about the structure of any international treaty and the near-term rate of change in emissions. Athanasiou and Baer perform a great service by bringing the larger questions of the long-term severity of the climate problem and the potential massively unequal consequences of climate change for people of different wealth levels.

Grounding their argument in the well-accepted science of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the authors describe in clear language the imperative to dramatically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions over the next 50 years. Importantly, they endorse the current ideas about international emissions trading as a low-cost way to achieve these cuts, but they then lay out an ethically grounded argument for ensuring that this trading is structured in a fair and equitable way--both for people in poorer countries and for people in future generations. Moreover, they are careful to defend the political viability of their proposed solutions.

Written in direct and comprehensible language, Dead Heat is a forceful call for more serious action to address the social and environmental consequences of climate change and climate change policy.

For individuals wanting to learn more about the extremely important and dire problem of global warming but intimidated by books with lots of difficult scientific language, this short, comprehensible book is the perfect introduction for the lay person. Not only does it detail the frightening consequences of climate chaos like hurricanes, drought, and outbreaks of diseases like malaria, it more importantly outlines individual and institutional strategies for stabilizing the planet's temperature. And it does so in a global justice context. If you care about polar bears, coral reefs, poor folks in Bangledesh, Central America, and the Gulf Coast, then read this book. If you care about your future, the future of your children, and the future of this planet, then read this book (and then ride your bike, plant a tree, join a collective household, go solar, and eat organic, locally grown slow cuisine).

...but for those who already know some of the details on global warming and the Kyoto Protocol. I picked up this book for a term paper, hoping this would have all the information I needed. I was thoroughly confused with all the specific terms that were used but not explained. After I read through other resources which started from the beginning, I was able to enjoy this book more.

It's really a great book to read, and I enjoyed it.

This book explains both the science of global warming and the political reasons why governments have not acted to reverse it.

truly warm and wonderful person and this book captures so much of his character! Only a sampling of the thousands of hand-written letters composed during his eight years as president; these documents give us an insight not only to a President and the issues of the times; but also an insight to the very human side of this remarkable man.

Do not read this from a partisan point of view because it was not written for that purpose. The authors compiled this work to show the many facets of the man chosen for the highest office in the United States. His love of country, his love for his country's people, his fantastic sense of humor, his concern for every issue that passed his desk and his sincere desire to answer all who wrote to him in a clear and concise manner (from children to the aged), show the full picture of Reagan, the person, Reagan the President, Reagan the husband and father and Reagan the flag bearer for this country.

You don't have to agree with him; you don't have to be Republican nor do you have to see him in any particular light. I believe that if you read his letters, you will find it both enlightening and fulfilling. I enjoyed and hope you will also.

All the letters published in this wonderful book were handwritten by President Reagan, typed by secretaries and mailed to the correspondents. The correspondence includes letters to private citizens, famous and obscure lifelong friends, and heads of state. They reveal a noble spirit, a kind and decent man who took a personal interest in the lives of ordinary people.

The book starts with an introduction and editorial notes. The correspondence is divided into chapters for every year from 1981 to 1988/1989. Each of these aforementioned chapters has an introduction of the year concerned, discussing the major evens of that year, thus providing a historical background to the themes of the letters.

The correspondence displays a tapestry of Ronald Reagan's wisdom, resolve, decency, optimism, humanity and humour in his replies to young people, unemployed workers, press columnists, Hollywood friends, Soviet leaders, sports figures, relatives of soldiers and critics of government policies. It shows his positive approach to the economy, his frequent frustration with the media and an obstructive Congress, and his determination to halt Soviet expansionism, to reduce taxes and to rebuild the military.

Reagan's style was warm and down to earth and often gently humorous. Replies to his critics were factual and respectful. There are 14 black and white photographs that include pictures of Reagan with William Buckley, Michael Gorbachev, chief of correspondence Anne Higgins, personal secretary Kathy Osbourne and Reagan's young friend Rudolph Hines.

Unlike the impression created by certain elements in the media at the time, Ronald Reagan was a highly intelligent man with a keen insight into domestic issues and international relations. Moreover he had the gift to translate those insights into language that everybody could understand. But most important of all, Reagan was wise.

Besides being the Great Communicator, he was also the Great Correspondent as this volume demonstrates. What a lovely and admirable human being Reagan was. I also recommend the books When Character Was King by Peggy Noonan and Ronald Reagan: