Download or read book Democracy in Retreat written by Joshua Kurlantzick and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVSince the end of the Cold War, the assumption among most political theorists has been that as nations develop economically, they will also become more democratic—especially if a vibrant middle class takes root. This assumption underlies the expansion of the European Union and much of American foreign policy, bolstered by such examples as South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and even to some extent Russia. Where democratization has failed or retreated, aberrant conditions take the blame: Islamism, authoritarian Chinese influence, or perhaps the rise of local autocrats./divDIV /divDIVBut what if the failures of democracy are not exceptions? In this thought-provoking study of democratization, Joshua Kurlantzick proposes that the spate of retreating democracies, one after another over the past two decades, is not just a series of exceptions. Instead, it reflects a new and disturbing trend: democracy in worldwide decline. The author investigates the state of democracy in a variety of countries, why the middle class has turned against democracy in some cases, and whether the decline in global democratization is reversible./div

Download or read book Empire in Retreat written by Victor Bulmer-Thomas and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping history of the United States through the lens of empire—and an incisive look forward as the nation retreats from the global stage A respected authority on international relations and foreign policy, Victor Bulmer-Thomas offers a grand survey of the United States as an empire. From its territorial expansion after independence, through hegemonic rule following World War II, to the nation’s current imperial retreat, the United States has had an uneasy relationship with the idea of itself as an empire. In this book Bulmer-Thomas offers three definitions of empire—territorial, informal, and institutional—that help to explain the nation’s past and forecast a future in which the United States will cease to play an imperial role. Arguing that the move toward diminished geopolitical dominance reflects the aspirations of most U.S. citizens, he asserts that imperial retreat does not necessarily mean national decline and may ultimately strengthen the nation-state. At this pivotal juncture in American history, Bulmer-Thomas’s uniquely global perspective will be widely read and discussed across a range of fields.

Download or read book America in Retreat written by Bret Stephens and published by Sentinel. This book was released on 2015-10-27 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Americans are weary of acting as the world's policeman, especially in the face of our unending economic troubles at home. President Obama stands for cutting defense budgets, leaving Afghanistan, abandoning Iraq, appeasing Russia, and offering premature declarations of victory over al Qaeda. Meanwhile, some Republicans now also argue for a far smaller and less expensive American footprint abroad. Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens rejects this view. As he sees it, retreating from our global responsibilities will ultimately exact a devastating price to our security and prosperity. In the 1930s, it was the weakness and vacillation of the democracies that led to war and genocide. Today the regimes in Tehran, Damascus, Beijing, and Moscow continue to test America's will. Americans have often been tempted to turn our backs on a world that fails to live up to our idealism and doesn't easily bend. But succumbing to that temptation always leads to tragedy. The mantle of global leadership is a responsibility we must shoulder for the sake of our freedom, our prosperity, and our safety"--

Download or read book Point of Retreat written by Colleen Hoover and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-08-10 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us, It Ends with Us, and All Your Perfects. Sometimes two people have to fall apart to realize just how much they belong together. As Layken and Will’s emotion-packed story continues, a stunning and unforeseen revelation about Will’s past leaves them questioning everything that they thought they knew about each other. With the foundation of their relationship at risk, they must decide whether they are willing to fight for a future together, or to retreat back into solitude and heartache. How far does Will have to go to prove to Layken his love for her will last forever? It will require something truly extraordinary to keep this couple together, and the decisions they make and the answers they find will change not only their lives, but the lives of everyone around them.

Download or read book Retreat written by Matthew Ingram and published by Watkins Media Limited. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What have the hippies ever done for us? Matthew Ingram explores the relationship between the summer of love and wellness, medicine, and health. The counterculture of the Sixties and the Seventies is remembered chiefly for music, fashion, art, feminism, computing, black power, cultural revolt and the New Left. But an until-now unexplored, yet no less important aspect -- both in its core identity and in terms of its ongoing significance and impact -- is its relationship with health. In this popular and illuminating cultural history of the relationship between health and the counterculture, Matthew Ingram connects the dots between the beats, yoga, meditation, psychedelics, psychoanalysis, Eastern philosophy, sex, and veganism, showing how the hippies still have a lot to teach us about our wellbeing.

Download or read book Global Disorder written by Robert Harvey and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1995 Robert Harvey published The Return of the Strong: The Drift to Global Disorder. In the wake of the wake of the terrorist attacks on the 11th of September 2001, he has revised the analysis of the dangers facing the world that he presented in this title. In Global Disorder: The New Architecture of Global Security he has added far-reaching proposals for the reform of global security. In the first three parts he outlines the rise of the USA to its dominant position as the world's first megapower, describing the sources of instability that create global disorder and threaten world peace, and the dangers in the globalization of capitalism free from political control. The final part outlines reforms and actions that Western democracies, particularly the USA, must undertake.

Download or read book Retreat in the Real World written by Andy Alexander and published by Loyola Press. This book was released on 2008-11 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if you could experience a personal retreat in the truest sense of the word personal: on your own time, in your own way, in a location of your choosing? With Retreat in the Real World by Andy Alexander, SJ, and Maureen McCann Waldron, a personal Ignatian retreat is literally no farther away than your fingertips. This 34-week retreat can be started at any point in the calendar year, can be done anywhere, and can be experienced on your own or in conjunction with others. Each of the weeks includes background information, a simple reflection, prayer helps, and Scripture readings, along with beautiful photography by Don Doll, SJ. This highly popular personal retreat was originally offered online through Creighton University's Online Ministries.

Download or read book Invitation to Retreat written by Ruth Haley Barton and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When we choose retreat we make a generous investment in our friendship with Christ. Seasoned spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton gently and eloquently leads us into an exploration of retreat as a key practice that opens us to God, guiding us through seven invitations to retreat. You will discover how to say yes to God's winsome invitation to greater freedom and surrender.

Download or read book In Praise of Retreat written by Kirsteen MacLeod and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For readers of Walden, Wild, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, A Book of Silence, A Gift from the Sea and other celebrations of the inner adventure. An utterly engaging dive into our modern ways of retreat -- where we go, why we're drawn, and how it's urgent From pilgrim paths to forest cabins, and from rented hermitages to arts temples and quiet havens for yoga and meditation, In Praise of Retreat explores the pleasures and powers of this ancient practice for modern people. Kirsteen MacLeod draws on the history of retreat and personal experiences to reveal the many ways readers can step back from society to reconnect with their deepest selves -- and to their loftiest aspirations in life. In the 21st century, disengaging, even briefly, is seen by many as self-indulgent, unproductive, and antisocial. Yet to retreat is as basic a human need as being social, and everyone can benefit, whether it's for a weekend, a month, or a lifetime. Retreat is an uncertain adventure with as many peaks and valleys as any mountain expedition, except we head inward, to recharge and find fresh energy and brave new ideas to bring back into our everyday lives.

Download or read book A Long Retreat written by Andrew Krivak and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This gorgeously written memoir, A Long Retreat, tells the story of one man's search for his religious calling-a search that led him to the Dominican Republic and Central Europe, to Moscow and the South Bronx, and finally into married life with a woman whose search for God coincided with his own. In 1990 Andrew Krivak-poet, yacht rigger, ocean lifeguard, student of the classics-entered the Society of Jesus. The heart of Jesuit training is the Long Retreat, thirty days of silence and prayer in which the Jesuit novice reflects on the Gospels and tests his desire for the priesthood. For Krivak, eight years of Jesuit formation turned out to be a long retreat in its own right, as he tested all his desires-for poetry, for travel, for independence, for love-against the pledge to do all "for the greater glory of God." And in this deeply affecting book the long retreat becomes a pattern for our own spiritual lives, enabling us to embrace our desire for solitude and perspective in our own circumstances, the way Krivak has in his new life as a husband, father, and writer. The search for God is finally the search for oneself, St. Augustine wrote. Krivak's story pushes past the awful stories of scandal in the Catholic Church to reveal why a modern, forward-looking man would yearn to be a priest. Unlike those stories, it has an happy ending-one in which we can recognize ourselves.

Download or read book America in Retreat written by Michael Pembroke and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-01-28 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of how America turned its back on the world... In the heady days after 1945, the authority of the United States was unrivalled and, with the founding of the UN, a new era of international co-operation seemed to have begun. But seventy-five years later, its influence has already diminished. The world has now entered a post-American era, argues Michael Pembroke, defined by a flourishing Asia and the ascendancy of China, as much as by the decline of the United States. This book is a short history of that decline; how high standards and treasured principles were ignored; how idealism was replaced by hubris and moral compromise; and how adherence to the rule of law became selective. It is also a look into the future – a future dominated by greater Asia and China in particular. We are in the midst of the third great power shift in modern history – from Europe to America to Asia. Covering wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, interventions in Iran, Guatemala and Chile, and a retreat from international engagement with the UN, WHO and, increasingly, trade agreements, Pembroke sketches the history of America’s retreat from universal principles to provide a clear-eyed analysis of the dangers of American exceptionalism.

Download or read book The Creative Retreat written by Jennie Moraitis and published by Little Girl Designs. This book was released on 2016-07-14 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this workbook, blogger Jennie Moraitis reveals how you can create a personalized retreat that will take a minimum amount of resources and greatly enrich your life. It includes advice from creatives such as Rachel Anne Ridge, Stephanie Owens, Beth Anne Schwamberger, and more.

Download or read book The Army of Tennessee in Retreat written by O.C. Hood and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-12-06 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the Battle of Nashville, Confederate General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee was in full retreat, from the battle lines south of Nashville to the Tennessee River at the Alabama state line. Ferocious engagements broke out along the way as Hood's small rearguard, harried by Federal Cavalry brigades, fought a 10-day running battle over 100 miles of impoverished countryside during one of the worst winters on record.

Download or read book The Army of Tennessee in Retreat written by O.C. Hood and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-12-21 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the Battle of Nashville, Confederate General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee was in full retreat, from the battle lines south of Nashville to the Tennessee River at the Alabama state line. Ferocious engagements broke out along the way as Hood's small rearguard, harried by Federal Cavalry brigades, fought a 10-day running battle over 100 miles of impoverished countryside during one of the worst winters on record.

Download or read book Beautiful Writers written by Linda Sivertsen and published by BenBella Books. This book was released on 2022-08-23 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I own every writing book ever written, and Linda Sivertsen has done the near-impossible: given writing itself a personality . . . Her stories are cinematic, hilarious, heartfelt, and pitch-perfect—with energy and punch, so often lacking in nonfiction." —Terry McMillan, #1 New York Times bestselling author "A page-turning beach read doubling as how-to. Magic." —Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and blogger at The Bloggess "An engaging manual that offers writing advice with a big, broad, sunny worldview . . . fans of Sivertsen's podcast will devour this companion volume." —Kirkus Reviews 2023 International Book Awards Winner & 2023 Firebird Book Awards "Speak Up Talk Radio" Winner Imagine you're at a dinner party with some of the most successful authors of our time. "Book Mama" and Beautiful Writers Podcast co-creator Linda Sivertsen is the host. As she shares her story of the many hilarious, outrageous, and practical things she did to launch her bestselling writing career, your favorite writers chime in with their own anecdotes, leaving you enlightened and newly inspired. The wisdom in these pages will nourish anyone who appreciates the art of storytelling and dreams of living a creative life. Beautiful Writers is a love letter to reading, writing, and everyone who reads and writes. It's the book Linda wished she had when she was starting out. In it, she shares—and expands on—the best of advice and storytelling from her podcast and follow-up interviews with literary greats, including: Terry McMillan Cheryl Strayed Tom Hanks Van Jones Jenny Lawson Steven Pressfield Elizabeth Gilbert Anne Lamott Mary Karr Seth Godin Abby Wambach Martha Beck Marie Forleo Lee Child Patricia Cornwell Dean Koontz Maria Shriver Dr. Jane Goodall Sabaa Tahir Tomi Adeyemi Ann Patchett Dani Shapiro Danielle LaPorte Tosca Lee Joy Harjo Deepak Chopra This heartwarming, how-I-made-it writing memoir from a working writer you've never heard of with inspiration and advice from the legends you love will help aspiring authors avoid common pitfalls and energize career writers with a treasure trove of writing insights from their peers—the details you don't often hear but make a world of difference. Beautiful Writers is destined to become the evergreen companion for creatives everywhere, answering the burning question, "How did they bust through all obstacles to deliver, day after day, year after year, book after book?"

Download or read book Retreat written by Ron Broadhurst and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2015-10-20 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most forward-looking spaces designed for rustic living in the twenty-first century. Across the globe, architects are creating innovative houses for country living, reimagining the way we escape into the natural world. Some combine industrial materials like metal and concrete with traditional wood. Others create sophisticated essays in off-grid living, employing the most technologically ambitious green-living strategies. Still others place discreet structures on remote, almost-unbuildable locations. This unique volume profiles new and recent projects that illustrate the inexhaustible potential of the modern house to enter into a dialogue with nature in sustainable yet stylish ways. The collection spans the globe, from the Pacific Northwest to the forests of Japan. Today’s architectural vanguard is represented, as well as established architects working at the forefront of twenty-first-century design, including Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Rick Joy, Olson Kundig, and Marcio Kogan. These rustic retreats—with comfortable and appealing modern interiors—will resonate with readers of shelter magazines, while the cutting-edge reputations of their architects will interest professionals and students.

Download or read book Eckhart Tolle s Findhorn Retreat written by and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2006 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spring of 2004, Eckhart Tolle lead an extraordinary weekend retreat at Findhord, Scotland, a spiritual community on the leading edge of personal and global transformation. The whole retreat was captured on video and edited to create two DVDs.