Dangerous in all measures

CONFLICT

Editors: Sandra Cheldelin, Daniel Druckman and Larissa Fast

Edition: Second

Publisher: Continuum

Pages: 496

Price: £65.00 and £19.99

ISBN 9780826495709 and 5716

The new edition of Conflict has been developed to reflect the evolving state of art in the discipline of conflict analysis and resolution. Three major divisions of the book cover, respectively, the diagnosis of conflict, interpretation and contextualisation, and approaches to practical intervention. The book has been designed to encompass a generic theory of conflict through an integrated, cross-disciplinary approach and expanded to include chapters on narrative analysis, globalisation, development and peace operations.

Who is it for? Students at undergraduate or graduate level in peace and conflict studies, security studies and so on.

Presentation: Made especially amenable to seminar-based teaching by offering questions and highlighting key terms as discussion points at the end of each chapter.

Would you recommend it? It will certainly prove useful as a general overview of the present state of the field, introducing students to the key concepts - especially on courses with a practical as well as a theoretical focus.

DEVELOPMENT, SECURITY AND UNENDING WAR: GOVERNING THE WORLD OF PEOPLES

Author: Mark Duffield

Edition: First

Publisher: Polity

Pages: 280

Price: £55.00 and £18.99

ISBN 9780745635798 and 5804

Using case studies from Mozambique, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, Mark Duffield presents a critical re-examination of the relationship between humanitarian aid and security, arguing that Western concerns with development have more to do with achieving global governance and stability than improving lives outside the privileged societies of the West itself. The book is aimed at students at all levels and offers an analysis of the non-governmental organisation movement, humanitarian intervention, sustainable development, human security, fragile states, migration and the place of racism in development.

Who is it for? Undergraduate and postgraduate students in development, security studies and global ethics.

Presentation: Accessibly written, scholarly and provocative.

Would you recommend it? This book should certainly appear on reading lists as an important counterpoint to more optimistic liberal internationalist and cosmopolitan approaches.

THE CONTEMPORARY LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT

Author: Leslie C. Green

Edition: Third

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Pages: 352

Price: £25.00

ISBN 9780719073786

Already established as something of a classic since the 1990s, this third edition of Leslie Green's text has been updated to take account of the plethora of complex and challenging international developments between 2000 and 2006. The range of reference now includes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the War on Terror, the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, the Israeli-Hezbollah war of 2006, judgments from the war-crimes tribunals, and the building of the Israeli security wall.

Who is it for? Students of international law and/or conflict as well as military, legal and government practitioners. Useful background for students of international ethics.

Presentation: Provides a comprehensive and accessible map of the legal sources, principles and historical developments. Analytical table of contents renders individual topics easily accessible.

Would you recommend it? Indispensable for serious study in the field.

FUNDAMENTALISM

Author: Steve Bruce

Edition: Second

Publisher: Polity

Price: £50.00 and £14.99

Pages: 160

ISBN 9780745640754 and 0761

Steve Bruce challenges the idea that fundamentalists exhibit an abnormal psychology, using instead a sociological analysis to look at fundamentalism as a symptom of rapid social change.

Newly updated to take account of the years since 9/11, the book considers the importance of modernity as a common source of anger, fuelling fundamentalist thinking. Case studies then focus on the different fundamentalist faiths of conservative Christianity in the United States and fundamentalist Islam. Finally, Bruce asks why some religions are more likely than others to produce fundamentalist strands and investigates their differing attitudes towards violence and democracy.

Who is it for? Students of sociology, politics, religion and any other field in which this topic is currently debated; it will also reach beyond academe to general readers.

Presentation: Admirably concise, the book presents a comprehensive treatment of the subject, considering both the social causes of different kinds of fundamentalism and its political salience.

Would you recommend it? Certainly - it's a highly engaging and accessible introduction.