World War II is usually seen as a titanic land battle, decided by mass armies, most importantly those on the Eastern Front. Phillips Payson O'Brien shows us the war in a completely different light. ...In this compelling new history of the Allied path to victory, he argues that in terms of production, technology and economic power, the war was far more a contest of air and sea than land supremacy. He shows how the Allies developed a predominance of air and sea power which put unbearable pressure on Germany and Japan's entire war-fighting machine from Europe and the Mediterranean to the Pacific. Air and sea power dramatically expanded the area of battle and allowed the Allies to destroy over half the Axis' equipment before it had even reached the traditional 'battlefield'. Battles such as El Alamein, Stalingrad and Kursk did not win World War II; air and sea power did.
Although the potential for biofuel production from microalgae via photosynthesis has been intensively investigated, information on the selection of a suitable operation strategy for microalgae-based ...biofuel production is lacking. Many published reports describe competitive strains and optimal culture conditions for use in biofuel production; however, the major impediment to further improvements is the absence of effective engineering strategies for microalgae cultivation and biofuel production. This comprehensive review discusses recent advances in understanding the effects of major environmental stresses and the characteristics of various engineering operation strategies on the production of biofuels (mainly biodiesel and bioethanol) using microalgae. The performances of microalgae-based biofuel-producing systems under various environmental stresses (i.e., irradiance, temperature, pH, nitrogen depletion, and salinity) and cultivation strategies (i.e., fed-batch, semi-continuous, continuous, two-stage, and salinity-gradient) are compared. The reasons for variations in performance and the underlying theories of the various production strategies are also critically discussed. The aim of this review is to provide useful information to facilitate development of innovative and feasible operation technologies for effectively increasing the commercial viability of microalgae-based biofuel production.
After his earlier book Discourse and Context, also published by Cambridge University Press, Teun A. van Dijk in this study presents the second part of his new multidisciplinary theory of context. The ...main thesis of this theory is that the influence of society on discourse is not direct, as is postulated for instance in sociolinguistics, but cognitively mediated by subjective mental models of the communicative situation: context models. These dynamic models control discourse production and comprehension and define the pragmatic appropriateness of text and talk. Whereas in Discourse and Context the psychological and linguistic aspects of context were analyzed, this book focuses on the social psychological, sociological, anthropological and political aspects of context. Tony Blair's 2003 speech defending his motion to go to war against Saddam Hussein and the following debate in parliament is used as an example illustrating the new theory.
Nurses after war Doherty, Mary Ellen; Scannell-Desch, Elizabeth
2016., 2016, 20170101, 2016-07-05
eBook
Based on candid interviews with 35 nurses who were deployed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is the first book to reveal the stresses and moral dilemmas they experienced as they ...transitioned back into everyday life. The nurses share their difficulties with family separation, clinical reassignments, post-traumatic stress disorder, the perceived stigma of seeking mental health counseling, and compassion fatigue. They describe how "doing nursing" in a war zone changed them personally and expanded their nursing skills, and how reintegration was more difficult than they had anticipated. In addition to serving as a personal account of the experiences,both individual and collective,of these military nurses, the book will serve researchers as a compelling example of qualitative, phenomenological, and descriptive research.
In War & Homecoming: Veteran Identity and the Post-9/11
Generation , Travis L. Martin explores how a new generation of
veterans is redefining what it means to come home. More than 2.7
million ...veterans served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their homecomings
didn't include parades or national celebrations. Instead, when the
last US troops left Afghanistan, American veterans raised millions
of dollars for the evacuation of Afghan refugees, especially those
who'd served alongside them. This brand of selflessness is one
reason civilians regard veterans with reverence and pride.
The phrase "thank you for your service" is ubiquitous. Yet, one
in ten post-9/11 veterans struggles with substance abuse. Fifteen
to twenty veterans die by suicide every day. Veterans aged eighteen
to thirty-four die at the highest rates, leading advocates to focus
on concepts like moral injury and collective belonging when
addressing psychic wounds. Martin argues that many veterans
struggle due to decades of stereotyping and a lack of healthy
models of veteran identity. In the American unconscious, veterans
are treated as either the superficially praised "hero" or the
victimized "wounded warrior," forever defined by past
accomplishments. They are often appropriated as symbols in
competing narratives of national identity. War &
Homecoming critically examines representations of veterans in
patriotic rhetoric, popular media, literature, and the lives of
those who served. From this analysis, a new veteran identity
emerges-veterans as storytellers who reject stereotypes, claim
their symbolic authority, and define themselves through literature,
art, and service. Their dynamic approach to life after military
service allows for continued growth, agency, individuality, and
inspiring examples of resilience for others.
The great nineteenth century French military thinker, Ardant du Picq, argued that selfless courage is rooted in a higher moral purpose, and is found among "Elite Souls." This is a book about ...five such "Elite Souls," all highly decorated young West Point graduates and recipients of the USMA's Ninninger Medal. Elite Souls outlines the importance of building and developing moral character in military leaders, while arguing that a rigorous academic education is also essential in creating young officers capable of the kind of creative and critical thinking necessary in the complicated wars of the twenty-first century. Dr. Raymond suggests that West Point's servant-leader model is critical in fostering the kind of intense selflessness ideally seen between junior officers, their NCOs, and soldiers. Finally, Elite Souls makes the case that inspirational commanding officers are also key. In this book, Dr. Ray Raymond argues that each of the recipients of the Ninninger Award entered West Point primarily for moral reasons and that the Academy's rigorous academic, military, and developmental methods strengthened those values. West Point produced young military leaders who were exceptionally well-educated and trained to deal with the complex challenges of war in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early twenty first century.
Conflicts involve powerful experiences. The residue of these experiences is captured by the concept and language of emotion. Indiscriminate killing creates fear; targeted violence produces anger and ...a desire for vengeance; political status reversals spawn resentment; cultural prejudices sustain ethnic contempt. These emotions can become resources for political entrepreneurs. A broad range of Western interventions are based on a view of human nature as narrowly rational. Correspondingly, intervention policy generally aims to alter material incentives ('sticks and carrots') to influence behavior. In response, poorer and weaker actors who wish to block or change this Western implemented 'game' use emotions as resources. This book examines the strategic use of emotion in the conflicts and interventions occurring in the Western Balkans over a twenty-year period. The book concentrates on the conflicts among Albanian and Slavic populations (Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, South Serbia), along with some comparisons to Bosnia.
Involved for over thirty years in the politics of Iraq, Ali A. Allawi was a long-time opposition leader against the Baathist regime. In the post-Saddam years he has held important government ...positions and participated in crucial national decisions and events. In this book, the former Minister of Defense and Finance draws on his unique personal experience, extensive relationships with members of the main political groups and parties in Iraq, and deep understanding of the history and society of his country to answer the baffling questions that persist about its current crises. What really led the United States to invade Iraq, and why have events failed to unfold as planned?
The Occupation of Iraqexamines what the United States did and didn't know at the time of the invasion, the reasons for the confused and contradictory policies that were enacted, and the emergence of the Iraqi political class during the difficult transition process. The book tracks the growth of the insurgency and illuminates the complex relationships among Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds. Bringing the discussion forward to the reconfiguration of political forces in 2006, Allawi provides in these pages the clearest view to date of the modern history of Iraq and the invasion that changed its course in unpredicted ways.
Despite all that has been written on it, the Iraq war - its causes, agency and execution - has been shrouded in an ideological mist. Now, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad dispels the myths surrounding the war, ...taking a sociological approach to establish the war's causes, identify its agents and describe how it was sold. Ahmad presents a social history of the war's leading agents - the neoconservatives - and shows how this ideologically coherent group of determined political agents used the contingency of 9/11 to overwhelm a sceptical foreign policy establishment, military brass and intelligence apparatus, propelling the US into a war that a significant portion of the public opposed. The book includes an historical exploration of American militarism and of the increased post-WWII US role in the Middle East, as well as a reconsideration of the debates that John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt sparked after the publication of The Israel lobby and US Foreign Policy.
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