C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd

Drawing on interviews with extremists, this timely study explores the relationship between gendered culture and political radicalism in a polarised Britain. Misogyny and ‘toxic masculinity’ are increasingly implicated in radicalisation. From the men’s incel (‘involuntary celibate’) movement online, to jihadist groups like Islamic State, to radical right ‘Free Speech’ protests —radicalisation spans ideologies. Though an often-used term, the process of radicalisation is not well understood, and the role of gender and masculinities has often been ignored. This book uses primary research among two of Britain’s key extremist movements: the banned Islamist group al-Muhajiroun, and those networked to it; and the anti-Islam radical right, including the English Defence League and Britain First, to reveal radicalisation as a masculinity project. Through interviews with leaders including Anjem Choudary, Jayda Fransen and Tommy Robinson, as well as their followers, Extreme Britain explores the emergence of extreme misogyny and masculinities. Pearson situates extreme identities in wider social norms, showing how masculinities are mobilised into action. The book cautions against oversimplifying extreme masculinity as ‘toxic’. It demonstrates how both men and women ‘do’ extreme masculinities and the costs and benefits to them both of activism. Understanding the men and women involved in extreme movements will better equip us to counter them. This fascinating study offers invaluable insight into some of their lives and motivations.

A frank assessment of Israel’s uncertain place in a region scarred by conflict and insecurity. Where can the country and its people go from here? Days before his country signed a deal to normalise ties with Israel, the Emirati Ambassador to the US penned an article in Hebrew, directly addressing Israelis. Israel, he argued, faced a choice between engagement with the rest of the region, or isolation. His words struck a chord then, and will continue to ring true in the decades to come. Michael A. Horowitz tells the unfolding story of this decision: of tension between the hope ushered in by the normalisation agreements, and the enduring despair both Israelis and Palestinians feel about the waning prospects of peace. Rather than examining the past, Horowitz looks to Israel’s future—one marked by new opportunities, but also tremendous challenges, as the country tries to find its place in a region trying to find itself. Israel is a ship in a storm, navigating a ‘new’ Middle East where unfinished revolutions, regional competition, perceived US disengagement and an unstable but menacing Iran all warrant caution. In the ‘promised land’ itself, existing gaps are widening, and the space for optimism is shrinking. Hope and Despair is a brutally honest exploration of what lies ahead for Israel: the waves, the winds, and the ray of light above the clouds.

This book spells out a new framework for humanitarian aid in the long emergency of climate change. Looking ahead to the massive needs of the late 2020s and the 2030s, Hugo Slim shows how current ethics and action in the sector are necessary, but not sufficient, for the new moral and operational challenges of our planetary crisis.Humanitarianism 2.0 offers a series of practical ethical pathways for aid workers and organisations to reimagine and redesign their purpose in the increasing number of climate-related disasters around the world. Slim expands the fundamental principle of humanity to include the protection of nature in humanitarian ethics, and also faces up to the hard challenge of impartiality and prioritisation in a universal emergency. He then recognises anticipation, adaptation, mitigation and locally led aid as humanitarian obligations in climate-related disasters.Like everything else in the climate and nature crisis, humanitarian ethics need adaptation. Slim’s bold, smart and much-needed proposals show the way.

An absorbing new history of European colonialism, showing how ideas of retribution and revenge were used to justify violent conquest and rule. Today, the use of military force to punish enemies is strictly prohibited under international law. It is also a widely accepted principle that acts of vengeance and reprisal have almost no legitimate place in warfare. Throughout much of Western history, however, punishment and retaliation were not only important aspects of conflict, but were key justifications for waging war in the first place—particularly when it came to the defence of national honour. European empires were no exception to this rule. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, two of the world’s most formidable powers, France and Britain, regularly framed wars of conquest and counterinsurgency using the language of justice and revenge. Whether to avenge alleged insults, punish perceived transgressions, or exact retribution for ‘crimes’ committed against the dignity and authority of Europeans, ‘honour’ was used as a legal, religious and moral rationale for violent expansion, consolidation and policing. Based on extensive archival research in multiple languages, Empire with a Vengeance is the first comparative examination of honour and revenge in colonial policy. Showing the central importance of these seemingly archaic concepts, it offers crucial insight into the brutal dynamics of empire’s ‘civilising mission’.

An eye-opening account of a world order shaped by spacepower and the threat of space warfare. Space technology was developed to enhance the killing power of the state. The Moon landings and the launch of the Space Shuttle were mere sideshows, drawing public attention away from the real goal: military and economic control of space as a source of power on Earth. Today, as Bleddyn E. Bowen vividly recounts, thousands of satellites work silently in the background to provide essential military, intelligence and economic capabilities. No major power can do without them. Beyond Washington, Moscow and Beijing, truly global technologies have evolved, from the ground floor of the nuclear missile revolution to today’s orbital battlefield, shaping the wars to come. World powers including India, Japan and Europe are fully realising the strategic benefits of commanding Earth’s ‘cosmic coastline’, as a stage for war, development and prestige. Yet, as new contenders spend more and more on outer space, there is scope for cautious optimism about the future of the Space Age?if we can recognise, rather than hide, its original sin.

Insider reflections on the political and ethical ‘red lines’ that shape talks with armed interlocutors, be they states or insurgents.After many years in the little-known world of back-channel mediation, helping sworn adversaries to prevent, manage or resolve conflict, Pierre Hazan felt compelled to re-examine the acute practical and ethical dilemmas that affected his work in Bosnia, Ukraine, the Sahel and the Central African Republic. What is the mediator’s responsibility when two belligerents conclude a peace agreement to the detriment of a third? Should mediators never be party to ‘ethnic cleansing’, even if it saves lives? Is a fragile peace worth sacrificing justice for—or will that sacrifice fuel another cycle of violence?In an increasingly dystopian world, Negotiating with the Devil offers both practical guidelines and a moral compass for mediators whose field of action has transformed dramatically. We have gone from soft to hard power; from ‘peace dividends’ to war in Europe; from the end of one Cold War to a new East–West confrontation in Ukraine; from Pax Americana to a multipolar world; from the dream of an all-powerful UN to the organisation’s marginalisation.Against this tapestry, Hazan sheds light on the complex work of those steering peace negotiations, blending vivid first-hand observation with sharp insights into the psychology of compromise as a first step towards peace.

Ghost neighbourhoods, trainless railways, empty offices—a bottom-up look at China’s footprint in British cities. At the high tide of UK–China relations, Chinese investors pumped billions into British property and projects each year, promising urban renewal and economic prosperity. But as political tides turned in both countries, the money dried up. A decade on, we live in the ruins of this ‘golden era’. Caroline Knowles explores China’s global influence from the bottom up. Focusing on London and Manchester, she contrasts Beijing’s grand claims with the ramshackle physical evidence she finds at street level: a series of half-finished buildings and abandoned holes in the ground. And this isn’t just a British phenomenon. All along the continent-spanning Belt and Road network, Chinese-funded cities are patchworks of incompleteness, the products of relentlessly profit-driven urbanism that puts people last. China’s soft-power city-making falls far short of the dreams displayed in glossy brochures. Combining urban observation with sharp commentary, interviewing property developers, Chinese migrants and other city-dwellers, Knowles paints an intimate, nuanced portrait. This is the material and human fabric of Chinese Britain.

A fascinating study of the British Empire’s Middle Eastern intelligence section during the First World War, drawing on government files and secret publications. In the midst of the First World War, an extra- ordinary intelligence unit operated from Cairo’s Savoy Hotel, combining the skills of archaeologists, academics and soldiers to revolutionise how Britain gathered information and shaped events in the Middle East. Overshadowed by Lawrence of Arabia, the Arab Bureau’s true significance has remained hidden in plain sight ever since. This fascinating study uncovers the Bureau’s remarkable story through newly discovered Arabic documents and previously overlooked archives. At its heart lies an astonishing find: Thawrat al-Arab, an ambitious Arabic-language book and the longest piece of British propaganda produced during the war. From the Arab Bulletin’s secret intelligence reports to sophisticated propaganda campaigns, the Bureau was decades ahead of its time. The team—including archaeologists fresh from desert digs and scholars fluent in local dialects— developed new methods of cultural intelligence that would influence future generations. Eamonn Gearon’s compelling narrative reveals how this unique organisation navigated the complexities of Arab politics, tribal rivalries and Ottoman intelligence, while developing techniques that resonate with today’s challenges in intelligence-gathering. Essential reading for anyone interested in intelligence history, the Middle East or how innovation occurs in wartime, this book transforms our understanding of a crucial moment in world history.

Democracy and despotism live closer together than you’d expect—this briskly astute book reveals why that should alarm us all. We live in troubled times, marked by a sinister trend threatening democracy everywhere: the triumph of despotism not only in countries like Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, but also in states run by popularly elected demagogues—Trump, Erdogan and Netanyahu. Leading political thinker John Keane shows why this new despotism defies the laws of political gravity. Instead of relying exclusively on fear or force, it fosters a strange, pseudo-democratic type of government, led by rulers skilled in winning public loyalty through election-rigging, legal trickery, corruption, weaponised lying and talk of enemies. And alarmingly, the new despots hunt in packs. But what’s so good about democracy? In bold, energetic prose, Keane explains that it’s much more than popular self-government based on free and fair elections. Democracy is the collective insistence that unaccountable power is always dangerous—and that democratic institutions are our best weapon against demagogues and despots.

Reclaiming Turkmenistan from the margins of global attention, Hein offers a lively history of the ‘Mother of the World’ and its people. These days, it’s rare for news items to come out of Turkmenistan. It can be easy for us to assume that the country was always isolated, quirky or even irrelevant. But its real history paints a wildly different picture. Turkmenistan’s desert-dominated landscape has been an unheralded flashpoint at many key moments in history, whether as an integral but misunderstood part of the Soviet Empire, or as a major strategic prize in the brutal invasions of Genghis Khan. Sat exactly where East met West, yet often aloof from both, Turkmenistan was a key crossroads on the Silk Road, and once hosted the largest city on Earth, which doubled up as one of the world’s great seats of learning. It lays claim to conjuring up the world’s first monotheistic religion, and it may well have been one of the major players in that elusive turning point of history, the birth of civilisation—up there with Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley. No other nation can claim all of this, yet Turkmenistan’s past has long remained hidden from our understanding. This is the extraordinary story of a starkly beautiful land, its unique culture, and the wonderful people who now call it home.

An intimate portrait of this fascinating country, capturing its contradictions and charms. Though a founding member of NATO and the euro, Portugal is often overlooked, a small country on Europe’s southwestern edge. In The Portuguese, veteran journalist Barry Hatton blends historical insight with personal anecdotes to explore this enigmatic nation. During the 1400s and 1500s, Portuguese explorers led Europe into the Atlantic and helped connect Asia with Europe, creating a vast four-continent empire. This legacy still resonates today, particularly through the Portuguese language, spoken by over 220 million people worldwide. Hatton examines Portugal’s vibrant yet turbulent past—from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which shook European thinking and began a long decline, through António Salazar’s dictatorship, to its end in the 1974 Carnation Revolution, briefly thrusting Portugal into Cold War geopolitics. Hatton also explores the country’s complex ties with neighbouring Spain, and its oldest ally, England. With diverse landscapes, rich cultural heritage, a love of food and fine wine, an easy-going lifestyle and a rebellious streak, the Portuguese are uniquely compelling. Hatton’s portrait is intimate and revealing, capturing the charms and contradictions of a fascinating country. .

An intimate portrait of Estonia and all things Estonian from the UK's ambassador, as entertaining as it is informative. Near the top of most international league tables comes a surprising name: Estonia. This small country has many brilliant achievements to its name which can and should inspire the rest of the world: top globally in both environmental performance and human rights; the second-biggest per capita donor to Ukraine, after Denmark; second globally in digital government; home to more tech unicorns per capita than any other state; and boasting the best exam results in Europe. Estonia has the best tax system (seven years in a row!) and the world's most performed living classical composer. All underpinned by a deep commitment to freedom. Ross Allen, UK Ambassador in Tallinn and a fluent Estonian-speaker, explores how this country has come to excel in so many fields, and what the rest of the world could learn from it. He offers insights from his diplomatic work, but also shares his embrace of local culture, from song festivals to smoke saunas. Having travelled across Estonia's towns, villages, islands and bogs, his understanding of and enthusiasm for this relatively obscure country shine through. With elements of travel, history, geography and international politics, this highly enjoyable book will make you see Estonia and the Baltics in a new light.

Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has cast a spotlight on Russia’s burgeoning partnership with Iran. Moscow looked to Tehran for drones and ammunition to fuel its so-called ‘special military operation’, and Iran’s support for Russia’s war reflected a decade-long strengthening of Russo-Iranian ties, beginning with the 2011 outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. Despite a relationship historically marred by mistrust and unmet expectations, the two regimes have worked together to promote their common interests in Syria, where battlefield coordination soon developed into much deeper political alignment. Drawing on extensive Russian and Persian primary sources, and interviews with elites from both countries, Nicole Grajewski uncovers the drivers of ever-closer cooperation between the Kremlin and the Islamic Republic. Detailing the internal structures, shared anxieties and broader ambitions underpinning this alignment, she explores the genesis of Russia and Iran''s mutual antagonism towards the Western-led global order; the impact of deep-seated leadership concerns over regime security and domestic protests; and the future trajectory of the partnership within the larger world order. Examining both military dynamics and economic endeavours, as well as elaborate sanctions evasion schemes and collaboration within international organisations, this is the definitive account of contemporary Russia-Iran relations.

The inside story of Hungary’s descent into autocracy at the hands of Viktor Orbán, told by a former parliamentary ally turned outspoken political opponent. Hungary, once the poster-child of liberal democracy, is fast becoming an autocracy under Viktor Orbán. After winning an absolute majority in 2010, Orbán launched a series of 'reforms', fundamentally undermining the country's twenty-year, post-Cold War liberal consensus. For supporters and foes alike, the rise and rise of Hungary's prime minister is a vivid example of how democracy can be subverted from within. Zsuzsanna Szelényi, a leading member of Orbán's Fidesz in its early years, has witnessed first-hand the party's shift from liberalism to populist nationalism. Offering an insider's account of Fidesz's evolution since its creation, she explains how the party rose to leadership of the country under Orbán and made sweeping legal, political and economic changes to solidify its grip on power-from reining in the public media to slashing the number of parliamentary seats. She answers a key question: why has Orbán been so successful, winning widespread support within Hungary and wielding considerable influence in European politics? And how can Hungary's opposition party Together, which she co-founded in 2014, work to turn the country aroun? nderpinned by Szelényi's own experiences at the heart of Hungarian politics, Tainted Democracy offers accessible, nuanced insights into the global rise of populist autocracy--and how it can be challenged.

A briskly written primer on the North Korean decisions, foreign interventions and accidents of fate which have both threatened and, ultimately, preserved the country's dictatorship. This nimble tour through North Korea's history revisits sixteen knife-edge moments when collapse, reform or war nearly shattered the Kim dynasty. Structured in four acts--from the peninsula's partition in 1945 to Kim Jong-un's 2020 health scare--each chapter reconstructs a crisis and asks, what i? egime change has come within reach far more often than we realise: defeat in the Korean War, leadership challenges in 1956, aborted coups, unrest during a currency crisis--even an armed clash with the US in the 1990s. Kim Il-sung's acclaimed biographer, Fyodor Tertitskiy, guides readers through these events, and explores why change failed to materialise on each occasion. His narrative blends the twists and turns of palace intrigue and battlefield drama with crystal-clear dissections of ideology, institutions and great- power competition. Drawing on Korean, Russian, Chinese and Japanese sources, Tertitskiy offers nuance without special pleading. By tracing the decisions, miscalculations and foreign interventions that locked the peninsula into stalemate, Pyongyang on the Brink offers a swift, fresh look at deterrence, engagement and the future of millions living under the Kims' yoke. Is North Korea truly doomed to never-ending tyranny?

Iconoclasm is in the air. Bitter debates rage in the press, through social media and on the streets around the proper fate of statues of controversial figures, whether slave traders, imperialists or Confederate generals. It is an important question, but discussion has largely been confined to the final act of the lives of statues. Paul Brummell''s contention is that statues should be understood through their changing roles during often complex lifetimes. Starting with a discussion of why sponsors and sculptors choose to erect figurative representations of human subjects, the book explores the impact of time on statues, as durable images in marble and bronze outlive the worldviews of their founders, becoming forgotten relics of past regimes or acquiring a toxicity when their subjects are identified as problematic by new generations. On this journey through the lives of statues, Brummell explores such issues as the circumstances under which statues move, talk, and even kill, the role of votive offerings and the vexed question of the rubbing of intimate bronze body parts, examining the stories of statues from ancient history to the present day, from the celebrated beauty of Praxiteles'' statue of Aphrodite at Knidos to the Romanian hero likened to a chubby Santa Claus.