Book Excerpt from Mo Yan Speaks
Nobel Laureate Mo Yan, whose name literally means “don’t speak,” is renowned for his fiction, which includes The Garlic Ballads; Red Sorghum; Shifu, You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh; Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out; The Republic of Wine; and Big Breasts and Wide Hips (all translated into English by Professor Howard Goldblatt). Mo Yan’s fiction has captivated a global audience… Continue reading Book Excerpt from Mo Yan Speaks
Book Excerpt from “Military Strategy for the 21st Century”
This book by Lieutenant General Charles Cleveland, Dr. Benjamin Jensen, Colonel Susan Bryant, and Lieutenant Colonel Arnel David calls for the rethinking of how the U.S. national security community approaches population-centric warfare and strategic competition in the 21st century. Strategic advantage in the 21st century will emerge from mapping human geography in a connected world, leveraging… Continue reading Book Excerpt from “Military Strategy for the 21st Century”
Book Excerpt from Ensuring National Government Stability After US Counterinsurgency Operations by Dallas Shaw
With the current situation in Afghanistan, the book, Ensuring National Government Stability After US Counterinsurgency Operations: The Critical Measure of Success, by retired Marine Dr. Dallas Shaw is a timely must-read.… Continue reading Book Excerpt from Ensuring National Government Stability After US Counterinsurgency Operations by Dallas Shaw
Excerpt from Negotiating the New START Treaty by Rose Gottemoeller
On Anatoly Antonov, her Russian counterpart in negotiating the treaty, Rose Gottemoller reveals: We had a wary mutual respect. That mutual respect was almost upended, though, by the “tough-girl negotiator” incident. After the April meeting of the presidents, we were driving a hard pace to complete the new treaty. As we entered June and were… Continue reading Excerpt from Negotiating the New START Treaty by Rose Gottemoeller
Honoring the Life and Legacy of Professor Yü Ying-shih
We are greatly saddened by the passing of Professor Yü Ying-shih, whom we came to know through his memoir, From Rural China to the Ivy League: Reminiscences of Transformations in Modern Chinese History, which was scheduled to be published this month. Professor Yü set the gold standard for humanity and scholarship. As noted by Professor… Continue reading Honoring the Life and Legacy of Professor Yü Ying-shih
Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 12: Picturing Homes and Border Crossings: The Slavery Trope in Films of the Black Atlantic
In the twelfth and final chapter of Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Interactions, Identities, and Images, Awam Amkpa and Gunja SenGupta examine three films—Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust (United States, 1991), Euzhan Palcy’s Rue Cases-Nègres (Martinique, 1983), and Ousmane Sembène’s Ceddo (Senegal, 1977)—to examine the representation of slavery. The authors argue that on… Continue reading Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 12: Picturing Homes and Border Crossings: The Slavery Trope in Films of the Black Atlantic
Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 11: Slaves Supplicant and Slaves Triumphant: The Middle Passage of an Abolitionist Icon
In the eleventh chapter of Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade:Interactions, Identities, and Images, Jeffrey R. Kerr-Richie examines a transition in the visual representation of the slave from the beseeching captive to the grateful ex-slave and argues that the popular visual image of slave supplication was crucial in constructing the metaphorical image of ex-slaves’ gratitude… Continue reading Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 11: Slaves Supplicant and Slaves Triumphant: The Middle Passage of an Abolitionist Icon
Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 10: Hidden Beneath the Surface: Atlantic Slavery in Winslow Homer’s Gulf Stream
In Chapter 10 of Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Interactions, Identities, and Images, Peter H. Wood examines North American artist Winslow Homer’s famous 1899 painting, The Gulf Stream. Homer’s masterpiece is set in the Atlantic between Cuba and North America, with a distant ship and an ominous storm in the background. A solitary black… Continue reading Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 10: Hidden Beneath the Surface: Atlantic Slavery in Winslow Homer’s Gulf Stream
Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 9: Women Merchants and Slave Depots: Saint-Louis, Senegal, and St. Mary’s, Madagascar
In the ninth chapter of Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Interactions, Identities, and Images, Wendy Wilson-Fall examines eighteenth-century Afro-Creole women traders, a subject neglected by scholars. Known as in-betweens, collaborators, and sometimes symbols of Westernization, creolization, and amalgamation in West African and Indian slave ports, these women married Europeans and created a niche where… Continue reading Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 9: Women Merchants and Slave Depots: Saint-Louis, Senegal, and St. Mary’s, Madagascar
Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 8: Transatlantic Links: The Benguela-Bahia Connections, 1700–1850 (Excerpts)
In the eighth chapter of Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Interactions, Identities, and Images, Mariana P. Candido sheds light on the commercial and human exchanges between the Brazilian slave port of Salvador in Bahia and Benguela, in West Central Africa. Whereas many scholars privilege connections between Bahia and the Bight of Benin or between… Continue reading Paths of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Chapter 8: Transatlantic Links: The Benguela-Bahia Connections, 1700–1850 (Excerpts)