Robert Mason – författare

'I read this as a young pilot about to embark on a career flying military helicopters. It should have put me off for life. Robert Mason tells a gripping account of the relentless courage and heroism amidst the insanity of the Vietnam war. The final few pages are the most shocking I have read in any book.' Tim Peake________A stunning book about the right stuff in the wrong war.As a child, Robert Mason dreamed of levitating. As a young man, he dreamed of flying helicopters - and the U.S. Army gave him his chance. They sent him to Vietnam where, between August 1965 and July 1966, he flew more than 1,000 assault missions. In Chickenhawk, Robert Mason gives us a devastating bird's eye-view of that war in all its horror.He experiences the accelerating terror, the increasingly desperate courage of a man 'acting out the role of a hero long after he realises that the conduct of the war is insane,' says the New York Times.'And we can't stop ourselves from identifying with it.'CHICKENHAWK contains the most vivid, astoundingly intense descriptions of flying ever written. It is a devastating account of men at war, of courage and cowardice, boredom and exhilaration, lasting friendship and sudden death. It is not a book for weak stomachs, but its powerful message will stay in the memory long after the last page is turned.

As rising levels of mercury in the environment pose an increasing threat of toxicity to humans and wildlife, several laws already call for industries to reduce mercury emissions at the source. Ecosystem Responses to Mercury Contamination: Indicators of Change outlines the infrastructure and methods needed to measure, monitor, and regulate the concentration of mercury present in the environment.This book draws on the knowledge of forty international experts in the fields of atmospheric transport and deposition, mercury cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic foodwebs and wildlife. The authors propose a set of indicators to use as a measure of changing mercury concentrations in the environment. Next, they recommend a monitoring strategy and offer guidance for determining systematic changes in concentration. Then the authors examine additional monitoring strategies to relate observed changes in concentration to regulatory controls on mercury emissions. The final chapter provides an integrated framework for establishing a national-scale program to monitor mercury concentrations in the environment.Ecosystem Responses to Mercury Contamination: Indicators of Change contains the information needed to design a large-scale monitoring program for mercury and to use the concentration data to create, enforce, and evaluate the progress of initiatives aimed at reducing mercury emissions.

Mercury, primarily because of its existence and bioaccumulation as methylmercury in aquatic organisms, is a concern for the health of higher trophic level organisms, or to their consumers. This is the major factor driving current research in mercury globally and in environmental regulation, and is the driver for the current UNEP Global Partnership for Mercury Transport and Fate Research (UNEP F&T) initiative. The overall focus of the UNEP F&T report is to assess the relative importance of different processes/mechanisms affecting the transfer of mercury (Hg) from emission sources to aquatic and terrestrial receptors and provide possible source-receptor relationships. This transfer occurs through atmospheric transport, chemical transformations and subsequent deposition, and involves the intermittent recycling between reservoirs that occurs prior to ultimate removal of Hg from the atmosphere. Understanding the sources, the global Hg transport and fate, and the impact of human activity on the biosphere, requires improved knowledge of Hg movement and transformation in the atmosphere. An improved understanding of Hg emission sources, fate and transport is important if there is to be a focused and concerted effort to set priorities and goals for Hg emission management and reduction at the national, regional and global levels; and to develop and implement such policies and strategies. To achieve this, a series of coordinated scientific endeavors focused on the estimation of sources, measurement and validation of concentrations and processes, and modeling, coupled with interpretation of the results within a policy framework, is likely to be required.

This book presents an inter-disciplinary investigation into contemporary migration and social inclusion through an examination of migrant and refugee experience.In this edited volume, contributors discuss new understandings of individual and community security in a world where legal borders and definitions of citizenship no longer adequately capture the reality of migration. Distinguished contributors approach questions of social belonging and inclusion from diverse perspectives. Drawing its primary examples from Australia, Migration and Insecurity is framed by the wider experience of the Global North, with examples from Europe, the United Kingdom and United States woven throughout the collection. An inter-disciplinary approach to migration studies, this book integrates local, national and transnational spaces in its discussion of new constructs of inclusion and security. It considers questions of historical memory, ontological security, transnational communities, the role of civic institutions and social relationships in local spaces to guide the reader towards the wider conceptual questions of migration studies using expertise from the fields of sociology, gender, historical and political studiesMigration and Insecurity will be of interest to students and scholars of transnationalism, migration politics and international relations.

WINNER: Les Plumes des Achats 2016 - Prix des Associations (1st edition)Over the last two decades Tesco has emerged as a dominant player in the UK market and a leading global retailer. The Lean Supply Chain explores how Tesco, over the last 20 years or so, has built its business around supply chain excellence. As a mega-retailer, Tesco has learnt to create a balanced supply chain system, supporting suppliers' needs as well as customers' requirements. This perspective, and an ambition to act sustainably, has underpinned a rebuilding of trust in the Tesco brand and a resurgence in commercial fortunes. This fully updated edition of The Lean Supply Chain contains new chapters on Tesco's current strategy, rebuilding brand trust and its CSR agenda. It charts the principles of lean thinking, customer loyalty and simplicity which were used by Tesco to frame its supply chain strategy and draws upon the authors' deep knowledge of how the retailer has dealt with challenges and market changes to provide lessons for other businesses, large or small, who wish to place how they manage their supply chains at the heart of their competitive strategy.

WINNER: Les Plumes des Achats 2016 - Prix des Associations (1st edition)Over the last two decades Tesco has emerged as a dominant player in the UK market and a leading global retailer. The Lean Supply Chain explores how Tesco, over the last 20 years or so, has built its business around supply chain excellence. As a mega-retailer, Tesco has learnt to create a balanced supply chain system, supporting suppliers' needs as well as customers' requirements. This perspective, and an ambition to act sustainably, has underpinned a rebuilding of trust in the Tesco brand and a resurgence in commercial fortunes. This fully updated edition of The Lean Supply Chain contains new chapters on Tesco's current strategy, rebuilding brand trust and its CSR agenda. It charts the principles of lean thinking, customer loyalty and simplicity which were used by Tesco to frame its supply chain strategy and draws upon the authors' deep knowledge of how the retailer has dealt with challenges and market changes to provide lessons for other businesses, large or small, who wish to place how they manage their supply chains at the heart of their competitive strategy.

The 7th International Conference on Basement Tectonics was held at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, from August 17th to 21st, 1987. Much ofthe conference was devoted to presentations and discussions on "Major Fracture Zones in the Earth's Crust" and "The Tectonic Evolution of North America" . Subsidiary themes at the conference were "Tectonic Controls of Cratonic Basins" and "Basement Structures and Metallogeny" . The conference was characterized by lively discussion amongst a diverse group of participants with a broad spectrum of interests, encouraged by the single-session format of the conference and a generous allotment of time for discussion following each presentation. The following presided over individual sessions and their assistance is greatly acknowledged: D.L. Baars, P.J. Barosh, M.J. Bartholomew, R.e. Bostrom, D.M. Carmichael, E.M. Chown, J.J. Gallagher, M.C. Gilbert, H. Helmstaedt, R.A. Hodgson, Y.O. Isachsen, J. Kutina, P.D. Lowman, S.P. Gay, Jr. and M.J. Rickard.

The Proceedings of the Eighth International Basement Tectonics Conference examines the tectonics of Mesozoic and older continental margins. Internationally recognized experts in a variety of fields - igneous and metamorphic petrology, geophysics, structural geology, metallogeny, geochronolgy - reviewed broad, key, integrative aspects of major fields that contribute to knowledge of the tectonics of margins. Many other presentations represented new, recently completed studies of specific areas or problems. The Penrose style of presentation ensured the cross-fertilization of interdisciplinary ideas within the constraints that one field superimposes on another. The introductory chapter deals with specific concepts, techniques, and ambiguities applicable to the tectonics of continental margins. An entire chapter is devoted to the relationship of metallogeny and continental margins with a major emphasis on the occurrence of gold.The tectonic development of many Archean, Proterozoic, and even Paleozoic orogenic belts is commonly obscure or poorly constrained because erosion or subsequent tectonism has often obliterated important tectonic 'keys' recorded in rocks of shallower crustal levels leaving only deeper crustal rocks juxtaposed. By comparison, a high degree of understanding has evolved regarding the complex tectonics (e.g. terrane accretion, development of metamorphic core complexes) of the convergent margin of the North American Cordillera. The second chapter is exclusively devoted to many superlative comparative aspects of the Cordilleran Mesozoic margin. Characterization of Precambrian margins, particularly of the North American craton, is the subject of another chapter. Aspects of the divergent margins of the late Proterozoic and Mesozoic Appalachian orogen, as well as its Paleozoic convergent margin, are described in a single chapter. Problems at margins in Europe, Asia, Africa and the circum-Pacific region are discussed in several chapters.

Confronting Godfrey Hodgson’s long-standing theory that a “liberal consensus” shaped the United States after World War II, this volume finds that although elite politicians from both parties did share certain principles that gave direction to postwar America, the nation still experienced major political, cultural, and ideological conflict during this time.Here, leading scholars—including Hodgson himself—draw on fresh research to examine how the consensus related to key policy areas, how it was viewed by different factions and groups, what its limitations were, and why it fell apart in the late 1960s. They offer new insights into the era and diverging opinions on one of the most influential interpretations of mid-twentieth-century U.S. history.

Here, leading scholars-including Hodgson himself-confront the longstanding theory that a liberal consensus shaped the United States after World War II. The essays draw on fresh research to examine how the consensus related to key policy areas, how it was viewed by different factions and groups, what its limitations were, and why it fell apart in the late 1960s.

The rise of the Republican Party from its mid-twentieth-century minority status between 1960 and 1980 had a profound impact on American politics that is still being felt in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The GOP would move to the right in its pursuit of electoral ascendancy, but considerable debate within the party surrounded this shift and its success was far from certain. Ultimately, however, this development would culminate in the transformational election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980.Seeking a New Majority assembles an international group of scholars to move beyond the ideas and activities of party leaders who have hitherto received the bulk of historical attention. It illuminates how the Republican Party expanded its regional base, especially in the South, appealed to new constituencies ranging from blue-collar workers to Christian fundamentalists, and enhanced the political appeal of conservatism. It also examines how Republicans engaged in a remarkable organisational and intellectual mobilisation to challenge Democratic Party dominance--in search of a new majority.

As rising levels of mercury in the environment pose an increasing threat of toxicity to humans and wildlife, several laws already call for industries to reduce mercury emissions at the source. Ecosystem Responses to Mercury Contamination: Indicators of Change outlines the infrastructure and methods needed to measure, monitor, and regulate the concentration of mercury present in the environment.This book draws on the knowledge of forty international experts in the fields of atmospheric transport and deposition, mercury cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic foodwebs and wildlife. The authors propose a set of indicators to use as a measure of changing mercury concentrations in the environment. Next, they recommend a monitoring strategy and offer guidance for determining systematic changes in concentration. Then the authors examine additional monitoring strategies to relate observed changes in concentration to regulatory controls on mercury emissions. The final chapter provides an integrated framework for establishing a national-scale program to monitor mercury concentrations in the environment.Ecosystem Responses to Mercury Contamination: Indicators of Change contains the information needed to design a large-scale monitoring program for mercury and to use the concentration data to create, enforce, and evaluate the progress of initiatives aimed at reducing mercury emissions.

This book identifies and analyzes the various ways in which office automation will have an impact on the future of clerical employment in the banking and insurance industries over the period 1985-2000. By focusing on how office automation could affect both aggregate levels of clerical employment and the nature of clerical tasks, the book offers readers a rich and detailed basis for their thinking and action concerning office automation. It also presents a newly developed forecasting method that can be used by analysts and researchers to investigate in detail the potential effects that rapidly changing technologies could have on work and workers.

During a long period of the twentieth century, stretching from the Great Depression until the Reagan years, defeat generally characterized the electoral record of the Republican party. Although Republicans sometimes secured victory in presidential contests, a majority of Americans identified with the Democratic party, not the GOP. This book investigates how Republicans tackled the problem of their party's minority status and why their efforts to boost GOP fortunes usually ended in failure. At the heart of the Republicans' minority puzzle was the profound and persistent popularity of New Deal liberalism. This puzzle was stubbornly resistant to solution. Efforts to develop a Republican version of government activism met little success. Only the Democratic party's decline eventually created opportunities for Republican resurgence. This book is the first to offer a wide-ranging analysis of the topic, which is of central importance to any understanding of modern US political history.

During a long period of the twentieth century, stretching from the Great Depression until the Reagan years, defeat generally characterized the electoral record of the Republican party. Although Republicans sometimes secured victory in presidential contests, a majority of Americans identified with the Democratic party, not the GOP. This book investigates how Republicans tackled the problem of their party's minority status and why their efforts to boost GOP fortunes usually ended in failure. At the heart of the Republicans' minority puzzle was the profound and persistent popularity of New Deal liberalism. This puzzle was stubbornly resistant to solution. Efforts to develop a Republican version of government activism met little success. Only the Democratic party's decline eventually created opportunities for Republican resurgence. This book is the first to offer a wide-ranging analysis of the topic, which is of central importance to any understanding of modern US political history.

This collection offers readers the opportunity to learn more about what drives government policy on Muslim minority communities, Muslim community policies and responses in turn, and where common ground lies in building religious tolerance, greater community cohesion and enhancing Muslim community-state relations.

New formulations of globalisation have radically altered how people conceptualize the movement of people, ideas and capital throughout the globe, with questions of securitisation and transnational sentiment re-shaping long-standing Western concepts of asylum and human rights. Questioning the manner in which the reception of sanctuary in modern Australia changes migrants' sense of belonging, this interdisciplinary volume focuses on the disjuncture between receiving sanctuary and feeling secure in one's self and community. With emphasis on the formation and expression of migrant and refugee cultures, the book deliberately blurs the distinction between migrants and refugees, in order to engage more directly with the subjectivities of lived experience and social networks. Presenting research from the fields of sociology, media studies, politics, international relations and history, Cultures in Refuge places explores the manner in which notions of asylum and refuge affect the processes of articulating and negotiating identities.

This book presents an inter-disciplinary investigation into contemporary migration and social inclusion through an examination of migrant and refugee experience.In this edited volume, contributors discuss new understandings of individual and community security in a world where legal borders and definitions of citizenship no longer adequately capture the reality of migration. Distinguished contributors approach questions of social belonging and inclusion from diverse perspectives. Drawing its primary examples from Australia, Migration and Insecurity is framed by the wider experience of the Global North, with examples from Europe, the United Kingdom and United States woven throughout the collection. An inter-disciplinary approach to migration studies, this book integrates local, national and transnational spaces in its discussion of new constructs of inclusion and security. It considers questions of historical memory, ontological security, transnational communities, the role of civic institutions and social relationships in local spaces to guide the reader towards the wider conceptual questions of migration studies using expertise from the fields of sociology, gender, historical and political studiesMigration and Insecurity will be of interest to students and scholars of transnationalism, migration politics and international relations.

New formulations of globalisation have radically altered how people conceptualize the movement of people, ideas and capital throughout the globe, with questions of securitisation and transnational sentiment re-shaping long-standing Western concepts of asylum and human rights. Questioning the manner in which the reception of sanctuary in modern Australia changes migrants' sense of belonging, this interdisciplinary volume focuses on the disjuncture between receiving sanctuary and feeling secure in one's self and community. With emphasis on the formation and expression of migrant and refugee cultures, the book deliberately blurs the distinction between migrants and refugees, in order to engage more directly with the subjectivities of lived experience and social networks. Presenting research from the fields of sociology, media studies, politics, international relations and history, Cultures in Refuge places explores the manner in which notions of asylum and refuge affect the processes of articulating and negotiating identities.

Mercury, primarily because of its existence and bioaccumulation as methylmercury in aquatic organisms, is a concern for the health of higher trophic level organisms, or to their consumers. This is the major factor driving current research in mercury globally and in environmental regulation, and is the driver for the current UNEP Global Partnership for Mercury Transport and Fate Research (UNEP F&T) initiative. The overall focus of the UNEP F&T report is to assess the relative importance of different processes/mechanisms affecting the transfer of mercury (Hg) from emission sources to aquatic and terrestrial receptors and provide possible source-receptor relationships. This transfer occurs through atmospheric transport, chemical transformations and subsequent deposition, and involves the intermittent recycling between reservoirs that occurs prior to ultimate removal of Hg from the atmosphere. Understanding the sources, the global Hg transport and fate, and the impact of human activity on the biosphere, requires improved knowledge of Hg movement and transformation in the atmosphere. An improved understanding of Hg emission sources, fate and transport is important if there is to be a focused and concerted effort to set priorities and goals for Hg emission management and reduction at the national, regional and global levels; and to develop and implement such policies and strategies. To achieve this, a series of coordinated scientific endeavors focused on the estimation of sources, measurement and validation of concentrations and processes, and modeling, coupled with interpretation of the results within a policy framework, is likely to be required.

The Middle East is undergoing a period of profound change, partly brought about by the United States’ interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also by the Arab Spring. This is affecting regional relations between states and between the region and the US. For example, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have supported rebel groups in Syria against the government, which was supported by Iran. Political Islam is a threat to both monarchies in the Gulf and secular states. Non-state actors, such as Islamic State (IS) and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) are assuming an increasingly important role in shaping the region. Further, states such as Qatar and Turkey have undertaken their own quests to shift the existing regional balance of power in their favor through soft power deployment or new or broader international alliances. Lastly, the close strategic US-Saudi relationship, primarily based on oil and arms, is being eroded by a new economic reality and divergent foreign policy interests.This shifting alliances and new regional order is the focus of the book, which examines the factors that significantly impact the foreign relations between the countries of the Middle East. Through multiple case studies, the essays identify the emerging trends and influences that are now dominating the political decision making and policy behavior of many key states. The contributors, both scholars and practitioners, investigate the main foreign policy challenges and debates in the various states, the changing relations and balance of power between them, and the continuing role of the United States in the Middle East.Each chapter provides an overview of the last decade or so, before delving into the current challenges and opportunities (often in light of the US as a power with the ability to significantly impinge on state policies, and what these issues mean for the regional order. This primer on state politics and the transformative capacity of the Middle East will appeal to anyone studying the region.Contributions by: Gawdat Bahgat, Martin Beck, Kamran Bokhari, Morgane Colleau, Bryan Gibson, Christian Henderson, René Rieger, Farid Senzai, and Sebastian Sons

In recent years historians have paid substantial attention to the origins of modern political conservatism and the record of the Nixon administration in building a Republican majority in the late twentieth century. In Richard Nixon and the Quest for a New Majority, Robert Mason analyzes Nixon's response to the developing conservative climate and challenges revisionist claims about the activist nature of the Nixon administration. Nixon was an activist in intent, Mason contends, but not in deed.Nixon's ""silent majority"" speech of 1969 not only undermined the growth of the antiwar movement, Mason shows, but also identified a constituency for Nixon to cultivate in order to secure reelection. However, the implementation of his new-majority project was hindered by the resort to dirty tricks against political opponents and the ineffectual pursuit of a policy agenda. Although some Nixon initiatives were enacted, says Mason, they were not substantial enough to rival the Democrats' bread-and-butter issues. While Nixon built Republican strength at the presidential level, Mason argues that he did not succeed in mobilizing popular support for broad-based political conservatism.

Midterm elections have forced presidents to adjust course, reshaped their relationship with the party they lead, and heralded the rise or fall of new electoral coalitions. This book presents a fresh perspective on the American presidency by analysing how midterms modify in crucial ways the mandate that a president gained at the time of their election to the White House. Midterms not only provide an important opportunity for voters to evaluate the record of a president so far, but also have consequences for an administration's pursuit of the president's agenda over the two years that follow. Bringing together political scientists and historians, this collection presents a multidisciplinary understanding of the interplay between midterm elections and the American presidency.Patrick Andelic is Senior Lecturer in American History at Northumbria University.

Midterm elections have forced presidents to adjust course and have heralded the rise or fall of new party coalitions, yet they remain understudied in comparison to their presidential counterparts. This book offers a fresh perspective on the American presidency by analysing the significance of midterm elections in the United States. Midterms not only provide an important opportunity for voters to evaluate the record of a president so far, but also have consequences for an administration’s pursuit of the president’s agenda over the two years that follow. As the essays in this collection show, midterms modify in crucial ways the mandate that a president gained at the time of their election to the White House. The volume integrates contributions from political scientists and historians to create a truly multidisciplinary understanding of the interplay between midterm elections and the American presidency.

The year 1973 is usually considered the great equaliser among major oil producers. But the 'Visions' strategies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a so-called middle power and small state in the Middle East regional system, point to broadening economic relations as a great enhancer of economic power. This book explores the impact of regime type and leadership style on the two countries' foreign policies. It reveals how autonomy and influence, threat perception and alliance patterns are folded into the complex and personal riyal politik and economic statecraft that sit at the core of their international relations.

The Gulf States and the Horn of Africa takes a deep dive into the complexities of power projection, political rivalry and conflict across the Red Sea and beyond. Focusing on the nature of interregional connections between the Gulf and the Horn, it explores the multifaceted nature of relations between states and the two increasingly important subregions. Bringing together scholars working on and in both regions, the book considers strategic competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and between the UAE and both Qatar and Turkey, along with other international engagement such as joint anti-piracy operations, counterterrorism cooperation, security assistance, base agreements and economic development.Drawing on a range of subject expertise and field research across case study countries, the volume adds to the sparse literature on the regional and international politics of the Horn of Africa and Red Sea, gleaning specific insights from contemporary reflections across the book. This is essential reading for students and researchers interested in the Horn of Africa and the evolving regional geopolitics of the Gulf.