Politics at Continuum

The Arctic Gold Rush

The Arctic Gold Rush: The New Race for Tomorrow's Natural Resources is a new book by Roger Howard published by Continuum.

In August 2007, a Russian submarine captured world headlines by planting a rust-free national flag on the Arctic seabed far beneath the North Pole. The aim of the expedition was to assert Russia's legal sovereignty over a region whose importance has only recently started to become apparent as its melting ice has made vast natural resources open to exploitation.

The Arctic Gold Rush is a fascinating study of the impact Arctic reserves have – and will continue to have – on the global political and environmental stages.

"Meticulous detail ... This is an excellent book of reference with a wealth of factual information." - Morning Star

For more information on this new title, visit our website at http://www.continuumbooks.com

MLA Report: Disappearing Jobs in the Humanities

With the hope that the social sciences are faring better than humanities...

You might be interested in this report from the Modern Language Association about jobs in academia and tenure track for graduates in the humanities.

The report opens with the line, "The job picture in the humanities is going from bad to worse." You can read it in its entirety online at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/12/17/mla 

In Obama's Words | The Washington Post

What I told my former colleagues today is that we simply cannot allow differences over individual elements of this plan to prevent us from meeting our responsibility to solve a longstanding and urgent problem for the American people.”

via projects.washingtonpost.com

You will find President Obama's key speeches on the Washington Post website.

Getting Published: The query letter

How should you query an editor?

Best is via email (be sure to contact the appropriate editor!). The query need not be long, but should give a solid idea of what your project is about. Ideally, it should include the following information:

- A brief summary of the book, describing its scope, thesis, and intent

- A note about the audience. Is this a monograph? A supplemental text? A coursebook? If you're not sure, no need to worry, but it is good to mention the courses the book pertains to (political theory, international relations, e.g.)

- A short biographical note

If the editor is interested in learning more about the project, s/he will ask you --unless you have already provided it-- for additional information, including:

- A complete proposal (see website for guidelines)

- A full vita

- Sample chapter(s) or relevant article

*Tip* Please do not send the entire manuscript in lieu of query or proposal. Editors simply do not have the time to read an entire manuscript to find out what the project is about. 

"Tip* When in doubt, just send an email and ask!

APSA Conferences

The American Political Science Association website lists many conferences, seminars, and programs related to political science. All such events are listed by month, and can be found at http://www.apsanet.org/conferences.cfm

Tips on gettings published: which editor?

How do you approach an editor?

First, check the publisher's list of titles in your discipline to see whether your project would be a good fit. If you are planning an academic monograph, for example, you would be wasting your time querying a house that publishes only for a general audience.

Next, be sure to identify the appropriate editor to contact.

Most publishers have a list of their commissioning editors on their website. Pick the editor who commissions books in the discipline pertaining to the topic of your book.

If your book pertains to several disciplines, such as political theory and philosophy, choose the "dominant" one. If you're a political scientist, for example, you probably should most likely contact the politics editor.

*Tip* Avoid contacting several editors with one email. By doing so, you're actually lowering your chances of a response. 

 

From Foreign Policy: The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2009 - By Joshua Keating

From Foreign Policy (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/30/the_top_10_stories_you_missed_in_2009#)

Sometimes it's the page A14 stories -- the ones that never see the light of cable news or take a second life in the blogosphere -- that tell you the most about what happened during any given year. From a naval alliance that could shift the military balance of power on two continents to a troubling security gap in the U.S. passport system to a brand-new way to circle the globe, these are the stories that never got the attention they deserved in 2009 but could dominate the conversation in 2010.

via www.foreignpolicy.com

WPR Article | The Pentagon's New Arctic Map

With the Arctic warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe, the ice that covers the Arctic Circle continues to dwindle. Recent estimates suggest that the area will experience ice-free summers by 2030. Until now, the United States has largely avoided the frantic race for control of northern waters. But with the pace of the thaw exceeding expectations, the Navy has launched a strategic plan, the Naval Arctic Roadmap (.pdf), to maximize the U.S. stake in the Arctic.The plan was written by the newly launched Navy Task Force on Climate Change (TFCC), created last May amid growing concern about the security implications of the planet's rapidly changing environment. It includes a comprehensive, three-phase outline of measures the Navy hopes to undertake in the Arctic region within four years: develop new, resilient vessels and weaponry; map the seabed floor for potential resources and geological information; and innovate diagnostic tools to more accurately predict when the cap will thaw. In addition to identifying technological gaps, the Roadmap also lays out diplomatic tactics to promote cooperation, while calling for preparedness for potential international discord. The TFCC wants an assessment of Arctic "stakeholders" -- Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark (via Greenland) -- and their political and economic motivations and incentives. The goal of the assessment is to identify potential security threats and to find opportunities for cooperation, using game theory to determine likely courses of action.There are good reasons for the United States, along with other Arctic nations, to be interested in the implications of an ice-free north. Most notably, the region contains an estimated 90 billion barrels of natural gas -- 25 percent of the world's supply -- and offers expedient trade routes and the opportunity for strategic military bases.The new Navy roadmap reflects clear goals in analysis, research and diplomacy for years to come. But the U.S. is currently lagging behind the very countries it hopes to keep an eye on. Russia is fast-tracking the creation of a new Arctic military force, while the Royal Canadian Navy is spending $105 million on refurbished facilities and 900 new service members to build on its centuries of Arctic patrolling experience. Denmark and Canada have even partnered on joint aerial and marine ventures to map the Arctic seabed. The United States is also the only Arctic country yet to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is the legal arbiter on Arctic territorial claims. The four other stakeholders have not only ratified the Convention, they've also applied to extend their exclusive economic zones, which are currently limited to 200 nautical miles beyond a country's continental shelf. The U.S. may dispute territorial claims -- Canada's claim to the potentially lucrative Northwestern Passages waterways, for example -- but until the Senate ratifies UNCLOS, it will be powerless to do more.The Navy has backed U.S. accession to UNCLOS for nearly a decade, and the Roadmap refers to it as "a requirement," given the myriad of issues -- from territorial claims to free navigation -- over which the convention governs. Until ratification, the United States will be unable to join the legally sanctioned diplomatic fray, meaning the other Roadmap goals will be futile endeavors. According to Rear Adm. David Titley, director of the TFCC, that sense of futility is mitigated by the benefits of advanced planning. "Right now, climate change in the Arctic is a challenge but not a crisis," he told World Politics Review. "If we can make diplomatic forecasts now, we can increase the chances that the risk of future conflict remains low."To that end, Titley emphasized that plans calling for strategic analysis and game theory have less to do with belligerence and more to do with cooperation and negotiation -- what he called seeing foreign policy "through more than American eyes." Collaborative relationships will be vital for territorial claims, but also for tactical operations -- like oil spills or seismic events -- in a changed Arctic terrain. But without ratification of UNCLOS, the U.S. risks losing out on massive economic benefits, an influential decision-making role, and peaceful collaboration. "The Convention is what'll keep the Arctic from becoming the Wild West," Titley says. "It will minimize the risks of militant conflict." No doubt, the 36-page Roadmap is impressive, outlining plans for multimillion-dollar technological innovation, advanced climate forecasting and an increased military presence in the Arctic. This is the kind of advanced research, analysis and training that will ensure a smooth transition for the American Coast Guard and Navy in decades to come. But to capitalize on the Roadmap's vision of international diplomacy and negotiation, the United States must ratify UNCLOS. Even as the ratification process lurches through the Senate, the U.S. Navy is launching the first phases of its program. In August, Navy service-members and administrators took part in a Canadian training program, Nanook, where they learned tactical strategy for rugged climates and underwent disaster-relief training. In October, the United States Naval War College hosted the 19th biennial Seapower Symposium, where American and Canadian Naval administrators discussed their 6,500-nautical-mile dispute over waterway boundaries. Not surprisingly, the discussion was inconclusive. But the symposium, and the Roadmap more generally, are a good start, even if they are clouded by a certain irony. Global warming has seemingly become an inevitability rather than a risk. As a major contributor to the conditions causing it, the U.S. must try to mitigate its progression, while simultaneously preparing for its predicted impact. If those predictions remain accurate, then the United States has another two decades to foster collaboration over conflict in the Arctic. And the Navy's Roadmap is a first step in that direction.Katie Drummond is a journalist and editor in New York who specializes in unconventional and alternative approaches to health and medicine. She contributes military medical coverage to Danger Room at Wired.com and writes a column, The Extreme Self, at True/Slant Online.Photo: Spring melt, Tigvariak Island, Alaska (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by Rear Adm. Harley D. Nygren, retired).

via www.worldpoliticsreview.com

This day in History: December 4, 1918

On December 4, 1918, President  Woodrow Wilson traveled to France to attend the Versailles peace conference. The treaty, eventually signed June 28, 1919 put an end to war between Germany and the allied power.

Continuum has published many titles about World War I, including:

 A Part of History -- a consideration of various aspects of the British experience of the war in the light of more recent historiographical trends and also a prediction of how these areas are likely to be researched and written about in the future.

Belfast Boys -- by Richard Grayson, the story of men from either side of West Belfast's sectarian divide during the Great War.

Coming Soon

Expect to see more politics titles from Continuum this December, including:

• Answering Back: Liberal Responses to Conservative Arguments by David Coates
• Conflict Resolution of the Boruca Hydro-Energy Project by Jurgen Carls and Warren Haffar
• Norman Podhoretz and Commentary Magazine: The rise and Fall of the Neocons by Nathan Abrams

And more in 2010!

Just In: Volumes 6-10 in the Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers Series

The following five volumes of the Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers have just been published:

- Edmund Burke by Dennis O'Keeffe
- Alexis de Tocqueville by Alan S. Kahan
- Michael Oakeshott by Edmund Neill
- Ayn Rand by Mimi Gladstein
- The Salamanca School by Andre A. Alves and Jose M. Moreira

The series comprises twenty volumes, including the first 5 volumes published earlier this year:

- David Hume by Christopher Berry
- John Locke by Eric Mack
- Joseph A. Schumpeter by John Medearis
- The Modern Papacy by Samuel Gregg
- Thomas Hobbes by R.E.R Bunce

Next year, we will publish the remaining ten volumes:

- Robert Nozick by Ralf Bader
- F. A. Hayek by Adam Tebble
- Karl Popper by Philip Parvin
- Murray Rothbard by Gerard Casey
- Russell Kirk by John Pafford
- James Buchanan by John Meadowcroft
- Adam Smith by James Otteson
- Ludwig von Mises by Richard Ebeling
- Milton Friedman by William Ruger
- Herbert Spencer by Alberto Mingardi

Answering Back

Answering Back: Liberal Responses to Conservative Arguments will be published by Continuum in December 09.

Written by David Coates, from Wake Forest University, Answering Back is a timely tool at a time of health care debate and upcoming elections.

The book brings together the best conservative and the best liberal arguments on eight key policy issues: trickle-down economics and the role of public spending, the desirability of welfare reform, the future of social security, the establishment of health care for all, the possibility of comprehensive immigration control, religious issues and the social agenda, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus the causes of the financial meltdown.Each chapter begins with a brief introduction, followed by conservative views and a point-by-point progressive response. The language used is deliberately jargon free, to make the material as accessible as possible. The sources of both conservative and progressive arguments (and their supporting evidence) are cited to open the door to further research.

A blog complements the book to make it a living resource: http://www.answeringbackdavidcoates.blogspot.com/

"With passion, disarming candor, and fair-minded analysis second to none, David Coates captures the pulse of American politics. Answering Back makes the best case yet for how to revitalize the Left--and outmaneuver the Right--in the political space broken open by the Obama presidency. If you are interested in the fate of American democracy and want to become a stakeholder you must read this book." --Joel Krieger, Norma Wilentz Hess professor of Political Science, Wellesley College; Editor in Chief, The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World

"Answering Back is a very timely book. It will deepen the reader's understanding of the main issues in the debates between liberals and conservatives--especially those on the far right. The book is written from a liberal perspective, but it documents both the liberal and conservative sides of the issues. It achieves one of its main objectives very well--raising the quality of these debates." -Dr. Ray Marshall, University of Texas

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Putin, and Yukos

The New York Times magazine featured an article this weekend about the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, "the world's most problematic political prisoner," by Andrew Meier. You can access the article by visiting the New York Times website or by clicking here.

If this is a story of interest, be sure to read Continuum's upcoming book, Putin's Oil by Martin Sixsmith. (For more information on the title, please visit our website.

"All the drama of a Hollywood thriller, but this is a chilling real life story – the unfinished battle for oil and political power in Russia. This meticulously researched and vividly told story is a must read for anyone who wants to understand today’s Russia – a world where politics and big business form a deadly cocktail."
    -Angus Roxburgh, former Sunday Times Moscow correspondent and author of The Second Russian Revolution