2007, ISBN: 9780199224203

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Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007. Third Printing. Hardcover. Very good/very good. 336 pages. Note on Units of Measurement. Glossary. Notes. Selected Bibliography. Index. Inscrib… Meer...

Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007. Third Printing. Hardcover. Very good/very good. 336 pages. Note on Units of Measurement. Glossary. Notes. Selected Bibliography. Index. Inscribed on half-title to Clayton Yuetter!!! Clayton Keith Yeutter (born December 10, 1930) served as United States Secretary of Agriculture under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991 before serving as Counselor to the President in 1992. He served as United States Trade Representative from 1985 to 1989 and as Chairman for the Republican National Committee from 1991 until 1992. Yeutter is employed as a Senior Advisor at the international law firm Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. Yeutter is a graduate of theUniversity of nebraska-Lincoln from which he received a B.S., a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics. Yeutter later served as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Consumer Services from 1973 to 1974, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs from 1974 to 1975, and Deputy Special Representative for Trade Negotiations from 1975 to 1977. Robert Zubrin (born 1952) is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He and his colleague at Martin Marietta, David Baker, were the driving force behind Mars Direct, a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission. The key idea was to use the Martian atmosphere to produce oxygen, water, and rocket propellant for the surface stay and return journey. A modified version of the plan was subsequently adopted by NASA as their "design reference mission". He questions the delay and cost-to-benefit ratio of first establishing a base or outpost on an asteroid or another Project Apollo-like return to the Moon, as neither would be able to provide all of its own oxygen, water, or energy; these resources are producible on Mars, and he expects people would be there thereafter. Disappointed with the lack of interest from government in Mars exploration and after the success of his book The Case for Mars, as well as leadership experience at the National Space Society, Zubrin established the Mars Society in 1998. This is an international organization advocating amanned Mars mission as a goal, by private funding if possible. His book, Energy Victory is an expansion on his articles criticizing both reliance on oil and the potential for hydrogen energy, while highlighting the benefits of switching more toward methanol and ethanol. It carries an endorsement from former CIA director James Woolsey. Zurbin is fellow at Center for Security Policy. In this compelling argument for a new direction in US energy policy, world-renowned engineer and best-selling author Robert Zubrin lays out a bold plan for breaking the economic stranglehold that the OPEC oil cartel has on our country and the world. Zubrin presents persuasive evidence that our decades-long relationship with OPEC has resulted in the looting of our economy, the corruption of our political system, and now the funding and protection of terrorist regimes and movements that are committed to our destruction. Debunking the false solutions and myths that have deterred us from taking necessary action, Zubrin exposes the fakery that has allowed many politicians - including current US president George W. Bush - to posture that they are acting to resolve this problem while actually doing nothing significant toward that goal.Zubrin's plan is straightforward and practical. He argues that if Congress passed a law requiring that all new cars sold in the USA be flex-fueled - that is, able to run on any combination of gasoline or alcohol fuels - this one action would destroy the monopoly that the oil cartel has maintained on the globe's transportation fuel supply, opening it up to competition from alcohol fuels produced by farmers worldwide. According to Zubrin's estimates, within three years of enactment, such a regulation would put 50 million cars on the road in the USA capable of running on high-alcohol fuels, and at least an equal number overseas.Energy Victory shows how we could be using fuel dollars that are now being sent to countries with ties to terrorism to help farmers here and abroad, boosting our own economy and funding world development. Furthermore, by switching to alcohol fuels, which pollute less than gasoline and are made from plants that draw carbon dioxide from the air, this plan will facilitate the worldwide economic growth required to eliminate global poverty without the fear of greenhouse warming. Energy Victory offers an exciting vision for a dynamic, new energy policy, which will go a long way toward safeguarding homeland security in the future and provide solutions for global warming and Third World development., Prometheus Books, 2007, 3, London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1999. Presumed first edition/first printing. Wraps. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover has slight wear and soiling.. 92, [4] p. Glossary. Illustrations. Notes. Adelphi Paper 324. Military coups plagued the Arab world in the 1950s and 1960s. Since the 1970s, however, regimes have been remarkably stable; leaders in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and elsewhere have been in power for decades. This paper assesses how this leadership stability has been sustained, describes its costs in terms of military capability, and looks at the prospects for change across the region as the current generation of ageing leaders gives way to the next. Leaders use a variety of methods to maintain political 'control' over their militaries: At the broadest level, they seek to maintain popular support for their rule and cultivate prominent social groups to offset the influence of the military establishment. They provide private benefits to senior officers and protect the military's corporate interests. They create alternative security services to counterbalance the military. They fill important positions with privileged minorities which have a vested interest in perpetuating the regime. They use institutional techniques such as politicised appointment criteria, command rotations and purges to prevent the growth of factions and challengers within the military. By using these methods, political leaders have kept themselves in power. However, leadership stability has often come at the expense of conventional military capabilities. Many of the techniques of political control run counter to the principles of efficient military organisation. Centralised command, irregular rotations, the emphasis on political loyalty over merit in key appointments, encouraging corruption, providing lavish benefits and maintaining a specific religious or ethnic composition all undermine the combat effectiveness of the region's militaries. This paper argues that a comprehensive assessment of the regional military balance must account for these qualitative factors. In coming years, leadership transition will become an increasingly important policy issue, raising the prospect of profound change. The military will play a key role in shaping these successions. Even where designated successors exist, new leaders will have to consolidate power in their own right. Their success will depend on how well they build popular support, cultivate the backing of key social groups, remove potential challengers and maintain a steady flow of resources to the military. This paper evaluates succession questions in three key states, Syria, Egypt and Jordan., International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1999, 3<