New Releases by Alastair Smith

When the United States invaded Iraq, President Bush made it clear: the U.S. was not fighting the Iraqi people. Rather, all quarrels were solely with Iraq's leadership. This kind of assertion remains frequent in foreign affairs--sanctions or military actions are imposed on a nation not because of its people, but because of its misguided leaders. Although the distinction might seem pedantic since the people suffer regardless, Punishing the Prince reveals how targeting individual leaders for punishment rather than the nations they represent creates incentives for cooperation between nations and leaves room for future relations with pariah states. Punishing the Prince demonstrates that theories of leader punishment explain a great deal about international behavior and interstate relations. The book examines the impact that domestic political institutions have on whether citizens hold their leaders accountable for international commitments and shows that the degrees to which citizens are able to remove leaders shape the dynamics of interstate relations and leader turnover. Through analyses of sovereign debt, international trade, sanctions, and crisis bargaining, Fiona McGillivray and Alastair Smith also uncover striking differences in patterns of relations between democratic and autocratic states. Bringing together a vast body of information, Punishing the Prince offers new ways of thinking about international relations.

"It's striking how many of the presidents Americans venerate--Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy, to name a few--oversaw some of the republic's bloodiest years. Perhaps it's because they looked out for important political causes. Or maybe they just looked out for themselves. This ... book puts some of America's greatest leaders under the microscope, [positing that] their calls for war, usually remembered as brave and noble, were in fact selfish and convenient"--

An illustrated tour of the universe, from our closest planetary neighbours, Mars and Venus, to star constellations, galaxies and black holes millions of light years away. With photographs, detailed illustrations and fascinating information about space, plus tips on trying astronomy at home and internet links to websites with the latest space news.

Buying an engagement ring is confusing. Most of the information that's out there is provided by jewellers themselves - the very same people that are trying to sell you a ring. It'd be easy to get it wrong and get the wrong ring, or just spend way more money than you need to. There's never been a high quality and honest resource of information that will answer your questions, tell you exactly what you need to know and make sure that you don't get ripped off. Until now. How To Buy An Engagement Ring will talk you through everything you really need to know about getting a fantastic ring at a great price, including: Setting a budget that's right for you, so you don't spend more than you can afford How to decide whether you should involve your girlfriend in the search How to find out what ring she really wants without her ever knowing what you're up to The difference between what guys think girls want and what girls REALLY want, so you don't spend money on something that she doesn't care about anyway What really matters with diamonds, including the one C you can pretty much ignore The only type of retailer that you should ever consider, which could save you thousands And much, much more. Before I bought my ring I spent 6 months researching. I looked on 3 continents, read two technical books on precious stones, spoke to two jewellers and one certified gemologist, to make sure that I really understood diamonds and the jewellery industry. All of the hard work was worth it. I got a bigger, better ring than my friends, but spent less money. And my new fiancée loved her ring - great result! I've put it all of this knowledge into this book, to help you do the same. How To Buy An Engagement Ring is all about letting you take advantage of my research so you don't have to do the hard work, but do get the same awesome result. Ultimately this book will help you get the ring that she wants at a price that you'll love.

If you want to use a bike in your daily life - to get to work, play, school and the shops - this is the book you have been waiting for, an informative, comprehensive and inspiring guide that helps beginners get started and experienced cyclists ride more confidently, safely and enjoyably. Discover how to: select the right bike - or improve the bike you have choose accessories for safety, visibility and efficiency learn safe, effective cycling skills manoeuvre through traffic and complex road layouts carry loads safely and well handle challenging terrain and weather deal with mechanical problems such as flat tyres safely introduce your children to cycling

Theories that link domestic politics, domestic institutional structures, and leader incentives to foreign affairs have flowered in the past 25 years or so. By unpacking institutional variation across states and by drawing attention to agency issues between leaders, key backers, and citizens, models and empirical studies of linkage help explain even such fundamental phenomena between states as war and peace. In addition, theories of linkage politics explain phenomena not envisioned under earlier unitary-actor state models. We address how the linkage literature explains war and peace decisions, the democratic peace, nation building, foreign aid, and economic sanctions by tying international politics and foreign policy to domestic political considerations.

A groundbreaking new theory of the real rules of politics: leaders do whatever keeps them in power, regardless of the national interest. As featured on the viral video Rules for Rulers, which has been viewed over 3 million times. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith's canonical book on political science turned conventional wisdom on its head. They started from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about the "national interest"-or even their subjects-unless they have to. This clever and accessible book shows that democracy is essentially just a convenient fiction. Governments do not differ in kind but only in the number of essential supporters, or backs that need scratching. The size of this group determines almost everything about politics: what leaders can get away with, and the quality of life or misery under them. The picture the authors paint is not pretty. But it just may be the truth, which is a good starting point for anyone seeking to improve human governance.

Contains experiments, activities, A-Z dictionary, review questions and suggested websites for each topic.

Political leaders face both internal and external threats to their tenure as leaders. To retain office leaders need mass support, for instance to win elections. However, they also need to deal with potential internal party rivals. Using a game theoretic model, we examine how the incentives created by these competing pressures affect the retention of ministers across different political systems. Since non-democratic leaders face relatively little threat from the masses, their concern is to reduce internal party risk. Therefore, they remove high performing ministers and retain mediocre and poor performers. As it becomes easier for the masses to replace the party in power, leaders must tradeoff internal and external threats. Retaining competent leaders improves party performance but generates an internal party rival.

This thesis provides an account of the way in which meaning associated with the term 'fair trade' is negotiated within a number of discrete, yet interrelated communities, in a way which influences stakeholder understanding of the concept - and as a result, structures the way in which public procurement strategies integrate fair trade governance into their operation. Building from the identification of 'fair trade' governance as a means to embed the intra-generational social justice concerns of sustainable development within the public procurement system, the thesis investigates how the ambiguous meaning of fair trade is reconciled in discourse and practice. Specifically focusing on the case study of Scotland - where Local Authorities are involved in a complex network of state and private governance initiatives - investigation reveals that despite various influences to the contrary, fair trade is strongly conflated with certification administered by the dominant global fair trade certifying body, Fairtrade International (FLO). However, exceptions are argued to demonstrate an active negotiation of this domination over meaning. In particular, one Authority has purchased 'fairly traded' Kilombero rice - produced by members of the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) - as part of its fair trade strategy, by accepting claims of fairness not on the basis of external certification, but on trust from a socially orientated import organisation. Extending the study along the supply chain, investigation reveals that while the producer organisation sees fair trade as beneficial to their overall objectives, they identify significant limitations with the FLO approach. For this reason they have pursued World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) accreditation in order to back their claims to fair trade operation. As such, the dominance of FLO certification is seen to be actively contested as part of a wider dynamic in which different approaches vie to influence the understanding, and therefore the praxis of stakeholders.

There is a different animal hiding under one of the flaps on every double page spread, helping to expand observational skills and providing lots to talk about.

This updated edition shows you the universe, using the latest amazing information from astronomers around the world, and space probes around the galaxy. This book includes practical information on home astronomy and buying and using equipment.

A comprehensive and inspiring guide to drawing and painting subjects, ranging from people and animals to dinosaurs and buildings with plenty of full colour illustrations.

This kit comes with working weather instruments. Just follow the easy instructions and learn to calculate wind speed in MPH and perform many other meteorological activities, so you can become an amateur meteorologist. Kit includes Weather Spotter's Guide book, anemometer for measuring wind speed, wind vane, rain gauge, snow gauge, thermometer on card for hanging on nail or by string, 60 second sand timer for use with anemometer, compass for directional settings for wind vane and information regarding how to use these instruments to gather data.

A basic introduction to weather, the elements that create weather, and how to identify different kinds of weather.

A basic introduction to weather, the elements that create weather, and how to identify different kinds of weather.

The authors of this ambitious book address a fundamental political question: why are leaders who produce peace and prosperity turned out of office while those who preside over corruption, war, and misery endure? Considering this political puzzle, they also answer the related economic question of why some countries experience successful economic development and others do not. The authors construct a provocative theory on the selection of leaders and present specific formal models from which their central claims can be deduced. They show how political leaders allocate resources and how institutions for selecting leaders create incentives for leaders to pursue good and bad public policy. They also extend the model to explain the consequences of war on political survival. Throughout the book, they provide illustrations from history, ranging from ancient Sparta to Vichy France, and test the model against statistics gathered from cross-national data. The authors explain the political intuition underlying their theory in nontechnical language, reserving formal proofs for chapter appendixes. They conclude by presenting policy prescriptions based on what has been demonstrated theoretically and empirically.

Night time shows little children what animals around the world get up to after dark. Featuring lively and humorous text with glorious illustrations. Ages 2+ years.

These books open up worlds inaccessible to the naked eye Fascinating yet practical beginner's guides with an abundance of amazing photographs and realistic illustrations Include clearly explained activities, experiments and projects.

Endogenous election timing allows leaders to schedule elections 'when the time is right'. The author proposes and tests an informational theory of endogenous election timing that explains when leaders call for elections and the consequences of their decisions. In particular, he argues that, if all else is equal, leaders announce elections when they anticipate a decline in their future performance. As a consequence, early elections signal a leader's lack of confidence in future outcomes. The earlier elections occur, relative to expectations, the stronger the signal of demise. Using data on British parliaments since 1945, the author tests hypotheses related to timing of elections, electoral support and subsequent economic performance. Leaders who call elections early (relative to expectations) experience a decline in their popular support relative to pre-announcement levels, experience worse post-electoral performance, and have shorter campaigns.

Demonstrates through pictures and fold-over pages the processes of the human body, including digestion, senses, and how babies are born.