Volume 124 - Number 4 - Winter 2009-10

The False Promise of the Nobel Peace Prize
Ronald R. Krebs discusses the history, politics, and effects of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. While conferral of the Prize seeks to change the world, Krebs argues the award only occasionally draws attention to ignored problems. He claims that the award has sometimes produced unexpected and unwanted outcomes, which have become more common in recent years as the Peace Prize has increasingly been awarded to promote domestic liberalization.

The Tie Goes to Freedom: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty, Helen J. Knowles
Reviewed by Geoffrey R. Stone

The Opinion Makers: An Insider Exposes the Truth Behind the Polls, David W. Moore
Reviewed by Robert Y. Shapiro

In the Shadow of the Oval Office: Profiles of the National Security Advisers and the Presidents they Served—From JFK to George W. Bush, Ivo H. Daalder
Reviewed by Brent A. Strathman

Pacific Alliance: Reviving U.S.–Japan Relations, Kent E. Calder
Reviewed by Kenneth B. Pyle

Volume 124 - Number 3 - Fall 2009

Human Rights and Public Opinion: From Attitudes to Action
Shareen Hertel, Lyle Scruggs, and C. Patrick Heidkamp examine original public opinion data on American attitudes regarding human rights and ethical consumption. They find a higher acceptance of economic rights than have previous studies, and a high willingness to pay for ethically produced goods—though with notable variation among demographic groups.

America and the World: Conversations on the Future of American Foreign Policy, Zbigniew Brzezinski
Reviewed by Tony Smith

Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam, Gordon M. Goldstein
Reviewed by Bruce W. Jentleson

Party Polarization in Congress, Sean Theriault
Reviewed by Nolan McCarty

Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment, Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Reviewed by Danny Hayes

Volume 124 - Number 2 - Summer 2009

What the New Deal Did
David M. Kennedy revisits the New Deal’s relevance to our own time. He concludes that the stubborn persistence of the Great Depression through the decade of the 1930s opened the political space for the New Deal’s greatest accomplishments, all of which were aimed at reducing risk in key sectors of the economy and imparting a measure of security to American life for generations thereafter.

Freedom Fighters and Zealots: Al Qaeda in Historical Perspective
Christopher J. Fettweis argues that too many post-September 11 analyses of terrorism seem to regard the phenomenon as brand new. Terrorism has existed throughout history, and its groups come in two forms: nationalist and ideological. This simple binary typology illuminates a number of important characteristics of terrorism, from group strategy and tactics to overall life expectancy. Perhaps most important, counter-terrorism measures that prove effective against groups in one category will often fail against those in the other.

Presidential Leadership in Political Time: Reprise and Reappraisal, Stephen Skowronek
Reviewed by Richard Holtzman

Attack Politics: Negativity in Presidential Campaigns Since 1960, Lee Sigelman
Reviewed by Darrell M. West

Volume 124 - Number 1 - Spring 2009

The 2008 Presidential and Congressional Elections: Anti-Bush Referendum and Prospects for the Democratic Majority
Gary C. Jacobson analyzes the 2008 presidential and congressional elections. He concludes that the elections were, through myriad pathways, largely a referendum on the Bush administration and a reaction to the economic meltdown. He questions whether Democratic Party control of the presidency and Congress will be a stable phenomenon.

The Rise and Fall of Colin Powell and the Powell Doctrine
Walter LaFeber discusses the rise of the Weinberger/Powell Doctrine by tracing Colin Powell’s career to 2001. He emphasizes how the George W. Bush administration not only overthrew the doctrine after 2001, but how Powell, notably in his February 2003 speech at the UN, helped in the overthrow by placing his then-highly respected reputation behind misleading and false evidence to justify war against Iraq.

Imagining America in 2033: How the Country Put Itself Together after Bush, Herbert J. Gans
Reviewed by Jennifer Hochschild

China's Struggle for Status: The Realignment of International Relations, Yong Deng
Reviewed by Andrew Scobell

Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City, Colin Gordon
Reviewed by Kenneth T. Jackson

Winners Without Losers: Why Americans Should Care More About Global Economic Policy, Edward J. Lincoln
Reviewed by Thomas D. Willett

Volume 123 - Number 4 - Winter 2008-09

The Political and Economic Forces Shaping Concentrated Poverty
William Julius Wilson examines the racial and nonracial political forces as well as the impersonal economic forces that have adversely impacted inner-city areas. He suggests a new policy agenda that reflects an awareness and appreciation of the effects of systemic changes on poor urban neighborhoods.

Saddam Hussein and the Sunni Insurgency: Findings from Values Surveys
Mansoor Moaddel, Mark Tessler, and Ronald Inglehart use findings from two national values surveys that were carried out in Iraq in 2004 and 2006 to determine the attitudes of the Sunni Arabs toward Saddam Hussein, which they use as a proxy measure of their attitudes toward the Sunni insurgency and American-led coalition forces.

American Juries: The Verdict, Valerie P. Hans
Reviewed by Geoffrey R. Stone

Organizations at War in Afghanistan and Beyond, Abdulkader H. Sinno
Reviewed by Kimberly Marten

On the Ethics of War and Terrorism, Uwe Steinhoff
Reviewed by Jerome Slater

Healthy Voices, Unhealthy Silence: Advocacy and Health Policy for the Poor, Colleen M. Grogan
Reviewed by Michael Givel