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"When George Pataki was swept into office in 1994, conservatives throughout New York rejoiced. Not only had they helped knock off liberal icon Mario Cuomo, but after thirty-two years in the political wilderness the New York Conservative Party had provided the margin of victory that fulfilled their mission to elect a governor who was not a legatee of Nelson Rockefeller/Jacob Javits/John Liudsay-style liberal, big-government Republicanism. But after Pataki's good start, conservatives became disenchanted. They realized that in his desperate desire to be all things to all people, Pataki squandered the historic opportunity entrusted to him in 1994." "In this first commentary on the Pataki administration, George Marlin, former Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York Conservative Party activist, traces how fiscally, economically, and culturally Governor Pataki sold out to leftist interests." "In Squandered Opportunities, Marlin contends that the Pataki Administration did not possess a philosophical compass. Political expediency overwhelmed any political philosophy, and "political conscience" and "political ideals" were mere slogans used to patronize conservatives." "Marlin examines how Pataki's social policies betrayed conservatives. Pataki approved gay-rights, bias crime bills, restricted the medical insurance "conscience clause" for religious institutions, increased gun regulations and repudiated term limits." "Marlin concludes that by deserting mainstream Republican principles, George Pataki, who harbors 2008 presidential aspirations, has forfeited his seat at the leadership table of the party of Ronald Reagan."--BOOK JACKET.
The Islamic Republic of Iran faced a favorable strategic environment following the US invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. Its leadership attempted to exploit this window of opportunity by assertively seeking to expand Iran's interests throughout the Middle East. It fell far short, however, of fulfilling its long-standing ambition of becoming the dominant power in the Persian Gulf and a leading regional power in the broader Middle East. In Squandered Opportunity, Thomas Juneau develops a variant of neoclassical realism, a theory of foreign policy mistakes, to explore the causes and consequences of Iran's sub-optimal performance. He argues that while rising power drove Iranian assertiveness—as most variants of realism would predict—the peculiar nature of Iran's power and the intervention of specific domestic factors caused Iran's foreign policy to deviate, sometimes significantly, from what would be considered the potential optimal outcomes. Juneau explains that this sub-optimal foreign policy led to important and negative consequences for the country. Despite some gains, Iran failed to maximize its power, its security and its influence in three crucial areas: the Arab-Israeli conflict; Iraq; and the nuclear program. Juneau also predicts that, as the window of opportunity steadily closes for Iran, its power, security, and influence will likely continue to decline in coming years.
When Emma Sky volunteered to help rebuild Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, she had little idea what she was getting in to. Her assignment was only supposed to last three months. She went on to serve there longer than any other senior military or diplomatic figure, giving her an unrivaled perspective of the entire conflict. As the representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk in 2003 and then the political advisor to US General Odierno from 2007-2010, Sky was valued for her knowledge of the region and her outspoken voice. She became a tireless witness to American efforts to transform a country traumatized by decades of war, sanctions, and brutal dictatorship; to insurgencies and civil war; to the planning and implementation of the surge and the subsequent drawdown of US troops; to the corrupt political elites who used sectarianism to mobilize support; and to the takeover of a third of the country by the Islamic State. With sharp detail and tremendous empathy, Sky provides unique insights into the US military as well as the complexities, diversity, and evolution of Iraqi society. The Unraveling is an intimate insider's portrait of how and why the Iraq adventure failed and contains a unique analysis of the course of the war. Highlighting how nothing that happened in Iraq after 2003 was inevitable, Sky exposes the failures of the policies of both Republicans and Democrats, and the lessons that must be learned about the limitations of power.
America's leading expert on democracy delivers the first insider's account of the U.S. occupation of Iraq-a sobering and critical assessment of America's effort to implant democracy In the fall of 2003, Stanford professor Larry Diamond received a call from Condoleezza Rice, asking if he would spend several months in Baghdad as an adviser to the American occupation authorities. Diamond had not been a supporter of the war in Iraq, but he felt that the task of building a viable democracy was a worthy goal now that Saddam Hussein's regime had been overthrown. He also thought he could do some good by putting his academic expertise to work in the real world. So in January 2004 he went to Iraq, and the next three months proved to be more of an education than he bargained for. Diamond found himself part of one of the most audacious undertakings of our time. In Squandered Victory he shows how the American effort to establish democracy in Iraq was hampered not only by insurgents and terrorists but also by a long chain of miscalculations, missed opportunities, and acts of ideological blindness that helped assure that the transition to independence would be neither peaceful nor entirely democratic. He brings us inside the Green Zone, into a world where ideals were often trumped by power politics and where U.S. officials routinely issued edicts that later had to be squared (at great cost) with Iraqi realities. His provocative and vivid account makes clear that Iraq-and by extension, the United States-will spend many years climbing its way out of the hole that was dug during the fourteen months of the American occupation.
Profiles, essays, and archival documents of African-American Unitarian Universalists.
Donald Morris's Opportunity ... considers choices that promise a significant change in the life of the person making the choice. ... Morris's survey of the literature is wide-ranging in terms of both literary sources and topics considered, thus offering insights to a variety of readers.-Elizabeth R. Eames, Professor Emerita, Philosophy Department, Southern Illinois University; Author of two books on Bertrand Russell's philosophyCan you recognize an opportunity when it comes your way? Even though the concept seems fairly basic, most people harbor regrets about missed opportunities that in retrospect might have significantly improved their lives. This book will give you the critical tools to sort through the complexities that often obscure the perception of an opportunity and help you take full advantage of what author Donald Morris calls high-end opportunities - pivotal situations that can change your life for the better.Morris begins by developing a model of opportunity in the abstract, analyzing its elements and the contexts and frameworks that affect our recognition of opportunities. Drawing from a wide range of applications, including investing, business, law, criminology, gambling, and even religion, he shows how opportunities can be defined in various contexts. He also examines highly undesirable situations, where opportunity is lacking, such as poverty and historical instances of slavery, to further illustrate, by way of contrast, the defining characteristics of opportunity.How does a significant opportunity differ from a simple option? How does taking advantage of opportunities differ from being an opportunist? Does our ability to predict the future affect our opportunities? What do we mean by equality of opportunity? By addressing these and other probing questions, Morris shows how to develop more critical perceptions of real opportunities.Donald Morris, CPA, Ph.D., is professor of accounting and chair of the Accounting, Finance, and CIS Department at Eastern New Mexico University. The former owner of an accounting firm and a onetime instructor of philosophy, he is the author of Dewey and the Behavioristic Context of Ethics.
I woke up one morning sometime in 2001 and in between sleep and wakefulness I was thinking about what I had to get up and do. Actually, I was telling myself to get up and take care of the day’s task. Later that evening I started working on a manuscript that began almost two years earlier. I decided quite spontaneously to revise the beginning of the first chapter with what I was saying to myself that morning. I basically started using the book to talk to myself. I went from writing in the first person to writing in dialogue. Not only did the way the book was written change but so did the substance, purpose, and intent. Over the next few days, months and years I would often find myself writing in the present, which can read throughout the book. I was not writing from hindsight; I was expressing thoughts for the first time as I wrote them. The book is large in scope and without a particular genre. Thoughts and emotions don’t happen in category or chronological order. Nor are the thoughts and emotions of a reader categorized in chronology. The book speaks about addiction and recovery yet is not a book about addiction and recovery. It speaks upon the contrast and ultimate uniting of one’s intellectual facilities and those of will and desire. Yet it is not a philosophical book. It speaks upon the evolution from atheism to acknowledging divine reality, but it is not a theological book. It speaks of the vulnerability and struggles of a young black male seeking manhood, but it is not a book about the black “struggle.” I detail the endeavor to become a better person and the inevitable pitfalls, but it is not a book about overcoming. It is, however, a book about the ever-changing reality of life, regardless of the fallacious idea that people stay the same. Since the book was more than 25 years in the making and a large part of it was written in the present the book had no choice but to change as did the author. When I started writing in the Fall of 1998, I figured it would take about a year or two to finish the book. By the fall of the next year, I had the first 3 chapters completed and was working on the fourth. On November 23, 1999, two days before I was to turn 30, my mother committed suicide. From there I would dive deep into alcohol addiction, set myself on fire, and be a hospital ride away from death after being stabbed 6 times with a 7-inch boning knife. Ultimately this book is about the inverted order of life that must be turned upside down and put into order. The order of love because anyone who loves desires to be loved. The order of wisdom because it is the means to practice love. And the order of service to others as the substance, form and purpose of life itself. I wrote about what I had lived while I was living it. Just prior to completing the manuscript I realized that writing a book helped me survive while circling the brink of death.
One in a series of twenty Old Testament verse-by-verse commentary books edited by Max Anders. Includes discussion starters, teaching plan, and more. Great for lay teachers and pastors alike.
Want to end poverty for good? Entrepreneur and Samasource founder Leila Janah has the solution—give work, not aid. “An audacious, inspiring, and practical book. Leila shows how it’s possible to build a successful business that lifts people out of poverty—not by giving them money but by giving them work. It’s required reading for anyone who’s passionate about solving real problems.” —Adam Grant, author of Give and Take and Originals Despite trillions of dollars in Western aid, 2.8 billion people worldwide still struggle in abject poverty. Yet the world’s richest countries continue to send money—mostly to governments—targeting the symptoms, rather than the root causes of poverty. We need a better solution. In Give Work, Leila Janah offers a much-needed solution to solving poverty: incentivize everyone from entrepreneurs to big companies to give dignified, steady, fair-wage work to low-income people. Her social business, Samasource, connects people living below the poverty line—on roughly $2 a day—to digital work for major tech companies. To date, the organization has provided over $10 million in direct income to tens of thousands of people the world had written off, dramatically altering the trajectory of entire communities for the better. Janah and her team go into the world’s poorest regions—from refugee camps in Kenya to the Mississippi Delta in Arkansas—and train people to do digital work for companies like Google, Walmart, and Microsoft. Janah has tested various Give Work business models in all corners of the world. She shares poignant stories of people who have benefited from Samasource’s work, where and why it hasn’t worked, and offers a blueprint to fight poverty with an evidence-based, economically sustainable model. We can end extreme poverty in our lifetimes. Give work, and you give the poorest people on the planet a chance at happiness. Give work, and you give people the freedom to choose how to develop their own communities. Give work, and you create infinite possibilities.