What Everyone Needs To Know – serie

Conventional wisdom dictates that Ukraine's political crises can be traced to the linguistic differences and divided political loyalties that have long fractured the country. However, this theory obscures the true significance of Ukraine's recent civic revolution and the conflict's crucial international dimension. The 2013-14 Ukrainian revolution presented authoritarian powers in Russia with both a democratic and a geopolitical challenge. In reality, political conflict in Ukraine is reflective of global discord, stemming from differing views on state power, civil society, and democracy.Ukraine's sudden prominence in American politics has compounded an already-widespread misunderstanding of what is actually happening in the nation. In the American media, Ukraine has come to signify an inherently corrupt place, rather than a real country struggling in the face of great challenges. Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know® is an updated edition of Serhy Yekelchyk's 2015 publication, The Conflict in Ukraine. It addresses Ukraine's relations with the West, particularly the United States, from the perspective of Ukrainians. The book explains how independent Ukraine fell victim to crony capitalism, how its people rebelled twice in the last two decades in the name of democracy and against corruption, and why Russia reacted so aggressively to the strivings of Ukrainians. Additionally, it looks at what we know about alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, the factors behind the stunning electoral victory of the political novice Volodymyr Zelensky, and the ways in which the events leading to the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump have changed the Russia-Ukraine-US relationship. This volume is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the forces that have shaped contemporary politics in this increasingly important part of Europe, as well as the international background of the impeachment proceedings in the US.

No topic is more polarizing than guns and gun control. From a gun culture that took root early in American history to the mass shootings that repeatedly bring the public discussion of gun control to a fever pitch, the topic has preoccupied citizens, public officials, and special interest groups for decades. In this thoroughly revised second edition of The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know® noted economist Philip J. Cook and political scientist Kristin A. Goss delve into the issues that Americans debate when they talk about guns. With a balanced and broad-ranging approach, the authors thoroughly cover the latest research, data, and developments on gun ownership, gun violence, the firearms industry, and the regulation of firearms. The authors also tackle sensitive issues such as the impact of gun violence on quality of life, the influence of exposure to gun violence on mental health, home production of guns, arming teachers, the effect of concealed weapons on crime rates, and the ability of authorities to disarm people who aren't allowed to have a gun. No discussion of guns in the U.S. would be complete without consideration of the history, culture, and politics that drive the passion behind the debate. Cook and Goss deftly explore the origins of the American gun culture and the makeup of both the gun rights and gun control movements.Written in question-and-answer format, this updated edition brings the debate up-to-date for the current political climate under Trump and will help readers make sense of the ideologically driven statistics and slogans that characterize our national conversation on firearms. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in getting a clear view of the issues surrounding guns and gun policy in America.

An accessible overview of the power of women in the economy and the obstacles they faceWomen are joining the workforce in increasing numbers, making inroads as entrepreneurs and leaders, acquiring more education, marrying later, and having fewer children - all trends consistent with spending a far greater fraction of their adult lives in the labor force. And yet, even as women break the glass ceiling and challenge gender and sexual norms, they are told they need to "lean in" and powerful movements like #TimesUP and #MeToo are still necessary to expose and overcome endemic discrimination, exploitation, harassment, and worse. Women in the Workforce: What Everyone Needs to Know ® provides an essential and accessible introduction to the significance of women in the economy and the obstacles they face in claiming equal status. Economists Laura M. Argys and Susan L. Averett tackle timely topics like the wage gap, "women's work," and gendered workplace interactions in an easy-to-read question and answer format. The book focuses on the choices people make and how these are framed by institutional impediments that create inequalities in the options available to men and women. Argys and Averett highlight how the experience of being a woman in the labor market varies, sometimes dramatically, by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. They also explore how living in cities, towns, and rural areas influence choices and outcomes.Covering a range of topics, from breastfeeding and work, earnings penalties for women who have taken time away from work, and childcare while women work, to the gender pay gap and the distinctive challenges women face as they age and transition to retirement, this book answers the essential questions surrounding women in the workforce.

Our knowledge of our solar system has passed the point of no return. Increasingly, it seems possible that scientists will soon discover how life is created on habitable planets like Earth and Mars. Scientists have responded to a renewed public interest in the origin of life with research, but many questions still remain unanswered in the broader conversation. Other questions can be answered by the laws of chemistry and physics, but questions surrounding the origin of life are best answered by reasonable extrapolations of what scientists know from observing the Earth and its solar system. Origin of Life: What Everyone Needs to Know® is a comprehensive scientific guide on the origin of life. David W. Deamer sets out to answer the top forty questions about the origin of life, including: Where do the atoms of life come from? How old is Earth? What was the Earth like before life originated? Where does water come from? How did evolution begin? After he provides the informational answer for each question, there is a follow-up: How do we know? This question expands the horizon of the whole book, and provides scientific reasoning and explanations for hypotheses surrounding the origin of life. How scientists come to their conclusions and why we can trust these answers is an important question, and Deamer provides answers to each big question surrounding the origin of life, from what it is to why we should be curious.

In 1962, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring sounded an alarm: the natural environment is being dangerously degraded because of human activity. Ever since, environmental protection has been a major societal concern. A robust system of environmental laws has emerged in the United States, commercial activities are increasingly scrutinized for their environmental impact, and communities around the world are becoming aware of the environment as a global issue requiring international attention. The most important evidence comes from the environment itself: the planet is warming, water supplies are at risk, ecosystems are under stress, and species are being lost at an unprecedented rate. Environmental Protection: What Everyone Needs to Know® provides accessible information that will help readers navigate this complex and highly relevant subject. It gives background information on the origins and development of environmental protection; introductions to the main elements of environmental protection with concrete examples; the context for understanding current issues; definitions of key terms; scientific, legal, and economic underpinnings; and discussion of hot-button current issues from nanopollution to climate change. The reader will gain familiarity with phenomena like biodiversity, the greenhouse effect, fugitive emissions, and algal blooms while learning about the impact of landmark policy initiatives like the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement.

Since the beginning of recorded history, Iran/Persia has been one of the most important world civilizations. Iran remains a distinct civilization today despite its status as a major Islamic state with broad regional influence and its deep integration into the global economy through its vast energy reserves. Yet the close attention paid to Iran in recent decades stems from the impact of the 1979 revolution, which unleashed ideological shock waves throughout the Middle East that reverberate to this day. Many observers look at Iran through the prism of the Islamic Republic's adversarial relationship with the US, Israel, and Sunni nations in its region, yet as Michael Axworthy shows in Iran: What Everyone Needs to Know, there is much more to contemporary Iran than its fraught and complicated foreign relations. He begins with a concise account of Iranian history from ancient times to the late twentieth century, following that with sharp summaries of the key events since the1979 revolution. The final section of the book focuses on Iran today--its culture, economy, politics, and people--and assesses the challenges that the nation will face in coming years. Iran will be an essential overview of a complex and important nation that has occupied world headlines for nearly four decades.

Over 30 percent of the world's adults lack access to basic financial tools—more often women, members of minority groups, and poor families. The abilities to buy what you need, when you need it, to put money aside for the future, and to withstand bad luck without financial ruin seem like basic elements of life in a functioning economy. But life is not that simple for people who lack financial tools. In fact, the tighter the budget, the more you need and benefit from financial services. Financial inclusion—or, put another way, having the tools necessary to take control of one's finances and make progress towards one's goals—is essential to a just and fair society.In Financial Inclusion: What Everyone Needs to Know, prominent experts Jonathan Morduch and Timothy Ogden explain in straightforward language how the lack of financial inclusion reinforces broader inequities in our society. Using their extensive backgrounds in finance, technology, economic change, and inequality, Morduch and Ogden detail efforts to guarantee that all people, rich and poor, have access to quality financial services and the ability to make prudent financial choices. Framed by the simple concept of equal access, this book explains the mechanisms of one of the most contentious and misunderstood parts of modern economics by answering a few core questions: What is financial inclusion? Why does it matter? How does it work? When doesn't it work? What are the risks? How can more people be included?

Over 30 percent of the world's adults lack access to basic financial tools—more often women, members of minority groups, and poor families. The abilities to buy what you need, when you need it, to put money aside for the future, and to withstand bad luck without financial ruin seem like basic elements of life in a functioning economy. But life is not that simple for people who lack financial tools. In fact, the tighter the budget, the more you need and benefit from financial services. Financial inclusion—or, put another way, having the tools necessary to take control of one's finances and make progress towards one's goals—is essential to a just and fair society.In Financial Inclusion: What Everyone Needs to Know, prominent experts Jonathan Morduch and Timothy Ogden explain in straightforward language how the lack of financial inclusion reinforces broader inequities in our society. Using their extensive backgrounds in finance, technology, economic change, and inequality, Morduch and Ogden detail efforts to guarantee that all people, rich and poor, have access to quality financial services and the ability to make prudent financial choices. Framed by the simple concept of equal access, this book explains the mechanisms of one of the most contentious and misunderstood parts of modern economics by answering a few core questions: What is financial inclusion? Why does it matter? How does it work? When doesn't it work? What are the risks? How can more people be included?

Around 1900, physicists started to discover particles like electrons, protons, and neutrons, and with these discoveries they believed they could predict the internal behavior of the atom. However, once their predictions were compared to the results of experiments in the real world, it became clear that the principles of classical physics and mechanics were far from capable of explaining phenomena on the atomic scale. With this realization came the advent of quantum physics, one of the most important intellectual movements in human history.Today, quantum physics is everywhere: it explains how our computers work, how radios transmit sound, and allows scientists to predict accurately the behavior of nearly every particle in nature. Its application led to the recent discovery of the Higgs Boson, and continues to be fundamental in the investigation of the broadest and most expansive questions related to our world and the universe. However, while the field and principles of quantum physics are known to have nearly limitless applications, the reasons why this is the case are far less understood. In "Quantum Physics: What Everyone Needs to Know," Michael Raymer distills the basic principles of such an abstract field, and addresses the many ways quantum physics is a key factor in today's scientific climate and beyond. The book tackles questions as broad as the definition of a quantum state and as specific and timely as why the British government plans to spend 270 million GBP on quantum technology research in the next five years. Raymer's list of topics is diverse, and showcases the sheer range of questions and ideas in which quantum physics is involved. From applications like data encryption and micro-circuitry to principles and concepts like Absolute Zero and Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle, "Quantum Physics: What Everyone Needs to Know" is wide-reaching introduction to a nearly ubiquitous scientific topic.

Hundreds of millions around the world live in chronic pain - many in such severe pain they are disabled by it. The Institute of Medicine estimates that chronic pain costs the U.S. alone $560 to $635 billion a year in direct medical costs and lost productivity. Morphine, an effective painkiller, costs only three cents a dose, yet because of excessive regulation in many countries, it is unavailable to millions of people who need it, even at the end of life. The World Health Organization notes that in addition to the one million end-stage AIDS/HIV patients who can't get morphine and other controlled medications, 5.5 million terminal cancer patients, nearly a million people suffering from accidents or violence, and an incalculable number of people living with chronic illnesses and recovering from surgery can't get it, either. Women, children, older people, and the poor are disproportionally affected by inadequate pain relief. Physicians know almost nothing about chronic pain, much less how to treat it, for two reasons: medical schools barely teach it and government institutions allot almost nothing to the pain research budget.In The Global Pain Crisis: What Everyone Needs to Know®, renowned health journalist Judy Foreman addresses the most important questions about chronic pain: what is it, who does it affect most, what works and what doesn't for pain relief in Western and alternative medicines, what are the risks and benefits for opioids and marijuana, and how can the chronic pain crisis be resolved for good?Foreman's book is a wake-up call for a health problem that affects all people across the globe, at all stages of life. Written in the classic, easy-to-read and quick reference style of the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, The Global Pain Crisis is a must for anyone whose life or work is affected by chronic pain.

Immunization is regarded by many as one of the greatest advances in modern civilization. The widespread use of vaccines has led to increases in life expectancy, reductions in the occurrence of childhood diseases, and is generally credited with saving millions of lives annually. But since their discovery two centuries ago, vaccines have been dogged by pockets of persistent distrust among those who are skeptical of their science or who find compulsory immunization at odds with personal liberty. The rise of these voices in contemporary culture has contributed to trends of vaccine delay and vaccine hesitancy in some communities -- a chasm between the general population and the scientific establishment that has persisted and grown at times across the last several decades. VACCINES: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers a scientifically grounded overview of the science, manufacture, and culture of vaccines in the United States and internationally. Aiming to offer an unbiased resource on this hotly debated subject, it provides accessible, authoritative overviews of the following:· How vaccines work· The history of vaccines· Vaccine policy -- who writes it, and does it matter?· The contents and manufacture of vaccines· Vaccine injury· The alleged link between vaccines and autism· Vaccines and new outbreaksWritten by a leading authority in both infectious disease and vaccine education, this book offers a clear-eyed resource for parents or anyone with an interest in the use, efficacy, and controversy surrounding vaccines. In a subject area defined by partisanship, it offers reliable resource for what everyone needs to know.

Corruption regularly makes front page headlines: public officials embezzling government monies, selling public offices, and trading bribes for favors to private companies generate public indignation and calls for reform. In Corruption: What Everyone Needs to Know®, renowned scholars Ray Fisman and Miriam A. Golden provide a deeper understanding of why corruption is so damaging politically, socially, and economically. Among the key questions examined are: is corruption the result of perverse economic incentives? Does it stem from differences in culture and tolerance for illicit acts of government officials? Why don't voters throw corrupt politicians out of office? Vivid examples from a wide range of countries and situations shed light on the causes of corruption, and how it can be combated.

What is the principle purpose of a brain? A simple question, but the answer has taken millennia for us to begin to understand. So critical for our everyday existence, the brain still remains somewhat a mystery. Gary L. Wenk takes us on a tour of what we do know about this enigmatic organ, showing us how the workings of the human brain produce our thoughts, feelings, and fears, and answering questions such as: How did humans evolve such a big brain? What is an emotion and why do we have them? What is a memory and why do we forget so easily? How does your diet affect how you think and feel? What happens when your brain gets old? Throughout human history, ignorance about the brain has caused numerous non-scientific, sometimes harmful, interventions to be devised based on interpretations of scientific facts that were misguided. Wenk discusses why these neuroscientific myths are so popular, and why some of the interventions based on them are a waste of time and money. With illuminating insights, gentle humor, and welcome simplicity, The Brain: What Everyone Needs to Know makes the complex biology of our brains accessible to the general reader.

An authoritative and practical guide to business ethics, written in an accessible question-and-answer formatIn today's turbulent business climate, business ethics are more important than ever. Surveys of employees show that misconduct is on the rise. Cover stories reporting indictments, prosecutions, and penalties imposed for unethical business conduct appear almost daily. Legislatures pass requirements elevating the levels of punishment and their enforcement against corporations and individuals. Organizations face pressure to design and implement effective ethics and compliance programs. As a result, businesses and businesspeople are increasingly worried that their conduct might cross lines that put their wealth and reputations at risk. Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know ® explains what those lines are, how not to cross them, and what to do when they are crossed. Written for both businesspeople facing real-life dilemmas and students studying ethical questions, this succinct book uniquely surveys materials from moral philosophy, behavioral science, and corporate law, and shares practical advice. Experts J.S. Nelson and Lynn A. Stout cover a wide array of essential topics including the legal status of corporations, major ethical traps in modern business, negotiations, whistleblowing and liability, and best practices. Written in a short question-and-answer style, this resource provides engaging and readable introductions to the basic principles of business ethics, and an invaluable guide for dealing with ethical dilemmas.

The destruction of ancient monuments and artworks by the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has shocked observers worldwide. Yet iconoclastic erasures of the past date back at least to the mid-1300s BCE, during the Amarna Period of ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty. Far more damage to the past has been inflicted by natural disasters, looters, and public works.Art historian Maxwell Anderson's Antiquities: What Everyone Needs to Know® analyzes continuing threats to our heritage, and offers a balanced account of treaties and laws governing the circulation of objects; the history of collecting antiquities; how forgeries are made and detected; how authentic works are documented, stored, dispersed, and displayed; the politics of sending antiquities back to their countries of origin; and the outlook for an expanded legal market. Anderson provides a summary of challenges ahead, including the future of underwater archaeology, the use of drones, remote sensing, and how invisible markings on antiquities will allow them to be traced.Written in question-and-answer format, the book equips readers with a nuanced understanding of the legal, practical, and moral choices that face us all when confronting antiquities in a museum gallery, shop window, or for sale on the Internet.

The internet has transformed the ways in which scholars and scientists share their findings with each other and the world, creating a scholarly communication environment that is both radically more complex and tremendously more effective than was the case just a few years ago. "Scholarly communication" itself has become an umbrella term for the increasingly complex ecosystem of publications, platforms, and tools that scholars, scientists, and researchers use to share their work with each other and with other interested readers. Scholarly Communication: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers an accessible overview of the current landscape, examining the state of affairs in the worlds of journal and book publishing, copyright law, emerging access models, digital archiving, university presses, metadata, and much more. Anderson discusses many of the problems that arise due to conflicts between the various values and interests at play within these systems: values that include the public good, academic freedom, the advancement of science, and the efficient use of limited resources. The implications of these issues extend far beyond academia. Organized in an easy-to-use question-and-answer format, this book provides a lively and helpful summary of some of the most important issues and developments in the world of scholarly communication--a world that affects our everyday lives far more than we may realize.

With almost every news broadcast, we are reminded of the continuing instability of the Middle East, where state collapse, civil wars, and terrorism have combined to produce a region in turmoil. If the Middle East is to achieve a more stable and prosperous future, Egyptwhich possesses the regions largest population, a formidable military, and considerable soft powermust play a central role. Modern Egypt: What Everyone Needs to Know® by Bruce Rutherford and Jeannie Sowers introduces readers to this influential country. The book begins with the 2011-2012 uprising that captured the worlds attention before turning to an overview of modern Egyptian history. The book then focuses on present-day Egyptian politics, society, demography, culture, and religion. It analyzes Egypts core problems, including deepening authoritarianism, high unemployment, widespread poverty, rapid population growth, and pollution. The book then concentrates on Egypts relations with the United States, Israel, Arab states, and other world powers. Modern Egypt concludes by assessing the countrys ongoing challenges and suggesting strategies for addressing them. Concise yet sweeping in coverage, the book provides the essential background for understanding this fascinating country and its potential to shape the future of the Middle East.

A concise, accessible overview of the maddeningly complex civil conflict in Syria and its destabilizing impact on both Middle Eastern politics and the broader international system.The Syrian Crisis began with political protest yet evolved into an open and brutal civil war. How did that come to pass? The Syrian Crisis: What Everyone Needs to Know® helps to explain how and why, serving as a comprehensive yet accessible guide to this hugely impactful yet little-understood conflict. Drawing from nearly a decade of research and analysis of the Syrian crisis, Charles Lister provides a wide-angle view of an exceedingly complicated conflict that covers all of its different moving parts. After opening with a history of modern Syria, he shifts to the eruption of political protest and its evolution into an open and brutal civil conflict. The civil war that resulted generated an unprecedented expansion of terrorism, including the rise of ISIS; the resurgence of Russia and Iran; an unparalleled humanitarian and refugee crisis that upended domestic European politics; and the erosion of long-held international norms like the ban on the use of chemical weapons. The crisis in Syria has transformed not just the Middle East, but much of the rest of the world. This book helps to explain how and why.

A concise, accessible overview of the maddeningly complex civil conflict in Syria and its destabilizing impact on both Middle Eastern politics and the broader international system.The Syrian Crisis began with political protest yet evolved into an open and brutal civil war. How did that come to pass? The Syrian Crisis: What Everyone Needs to Know® helps to explain how and why, serving as a comprehensive yet accessible guide to this hugely impactful yet little-understood conflict. Drawing from nearly a decade of research and analysis of the Syrian crisis, Charles Lister provides a wide-angle view of an exceedingly complicated conflict that covers all of its different moving parts. After opening with a history of modern Syria, he shifts to the eruption of political protest and its evolution into an open and brutal civil conflict. The civil war that resulted generated an unprecedented expansion of terrorism, including the rise of ISIS; the resurgence of Russia and Iran; an unparalleled humanitarian and refugee crisis that upended domestic European politics; and the erosion of long-held international norms like the ban on the use of chemical weapons. The crisis in Syria has transformed not just the Middle East, but much of the rest of the world. This book helps to explain how and why.

The word "jihad" is everywhere in the global media. It generally appears in the context of violence waged against the West by militants in or from Muslim-majority societies. This usage overwhelmingly colors popular discourse about Islam and Muslims and it has resulted in highly simplistic, distorted, and ahistorical understandings of the concept of jihad. For most Muslims, jihad refers to the continuous human struggle to promote and implement what is morally good and noble in all walks of life, as well as to resist and prevent what is morally wrong and unjust. This book addresses the great need for a discussion of jihad that explores its various dimensions without fear-mongering or sensationalism. Here it is examined from multiple perspectives: scriptural, theological, moral and ethical, legal and socio-political. Asma Afsaruddin looks at the key questions about jihad and provides concise yet thorough answers. Jihad: What Everyone Needs to Know® provides a historically-grounded, scholarly yet accessible treatment of the meanings of jihad from the formative period of Islam until the contemporary period.

Puerto Rico, acquired by the United States from Spain in 1898, has a peculiar status among Latin American and Caribbean countries. As a Commonwealth, the island enjoys limited autonomy over local matters, but the U.S. has essentially dominated it militarily, politically, and economically for much of its history. Though they are citizens, Puerto Ricans do not have their own voting representatives in Congress and cannot vote for the president or VP. The island's status is a topic of perennial debate, evidenced by the 2012 referendum, in which a majority voted for statehood for the first time. More recently, the island's colossal public debt has sparked an economic crisis that is the focus of an upcoming Supreme Court case. The issue is intimately tied to the question of status, and consensus on the solution has proven elusive.Despite their ongoing colonial dilemma, Puerto Ricans display a strong national identity-after 118 years of occupation, the Island remains a Spanish-speaking, Afro-Hispanic-Caribbean nation. At the same time, the island's population is constantly in flux, with an estimated 60.7% of boricuas living stateside, while many others are also returning to the island. Despite the island's popularity as a tourist destination, few beyond its shores are familiar with its history. Puerto Rico: What Everyone Needs to Know provides a succinct, authoritative, and well-documented introduction to the Island's rich history, culture, politics, and economy. Jorge Duany, takes on the task of educating readers on the most important facets of the unique, troubled, but much beloved isla del encanto.

Although girls and women account for approximately 40 percent of all athletes in the United States, they receive only 4 percent of the total sport media coverage. SportsCenter, ESPN's flagship program, dedicates less than 2 percent of its airtime to women. Local news networks devote less than 5 percent of their programming to women's sports. Excluding Sports Illustrated's annual "Swimsuit Issue," women appear on just 4.9 percent of the magazine's covers. Media is a powerful indication of the culture surrounding sport in the United States. Why are women underrepresented in sports media? Sports Illustrated journalist Andy Benoit infamously remarked that women's sports "are not worth watching." Although he later apologized, Benoit's comment points to more general lack of awareness. Consider, for example, the confusion surrounding Title IX, the U.S. Law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program that receives federal financial assistance. Is Title IX to blame when administrators drop men's athletic programs? Is it lack of interest or lack of opportunity that causes girls and women to participate in sport at lower rates than boys and men? In Women's Sports, Jaime Schultz tackles these questions, along with many others, to upend the misunderstandings that plague women's sports. Using historical, contemporary, scholarly, and popular sources, Schultz traces the progress and pitfalls of women's involvement in sport. In the signature question-and-answer format of the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, this short and accessible book clarifies misconceptions that dog women's athletics and offers much needed context and history to illuminate the struggles and inequalities sportswomen continue to face. By exploring issues such as gender, sexuality, sex segregation, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, media coverage, and the sport-health connection, Schultz shows why women's sports are not just worth watching, but worth playing, supporting, and fighting for.

As the "Giant of Africa," Nigeria is home to about twenty percent of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa, serves as Africa's largest producer of oil and natural gas, comprises Africa's largest economy, and represents the cultural center of African literature, film, and music. Yet it is plagued by problems that keep it from realizing its potential as a world power. Boko Haram, a radical, Islamist insurrection centered in the northeast of the country, is a pervasive security challenge, as is the continuous restiveness in the Niger Delta, the heartland of Nigeria's petroleum wealth. The former seeks to destroy the secular Nigerian state; the latter reflects the popular sentiment in the region that the Nigerian people are entitled to a greater share of the wealth it produces. There is also persistent violence associated with land and water use, ethnicity, and religion.In Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know, John Campbell and Matthew Page provide a rich contemporary overview of this crucial African country. Delving into Nigeria's recent history, politics, and culture, this volume tackles essential questions related to widening inequality stemming from Nigeria's oil wealth, its historic 2015 presidential election, the persistent security threat of Boko Haram, rampant government corruption, human rights concerns, and the continual conflicts that arise in a country that is roughly half Christian and half Muslim.With its continent-wide influence in a host of areas, Nigeria's success as a democracy is in the fundamental interest of its African neighbors, the United States, and the international community. This book will provide interested readers with an accessible, one-of-a-kind overview of this significant country.

A STIRRING EXAMINATION OF A LOOMING CRISIS Virtually everyone has taken antibiotics. They can be lifesavers -- or they can be useless. But what are they? How are they used? And what happens as the effectiveness of antibiotics begins to decline? Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® examines the personal and societal implications of our planet's most important -- and arguably most overused -- medications. In a question-and-answer format, it unpacks the most complicated aspects of this issue, including:· How antibiotics are used (and overused) in humans, plants, and livestock· The consequences to date, and the potential crisis ahead, as overuse of existing antibiotics breeds new resistance in bacteria· How the globalized world enables antibiotic resistance more quickly· Collateral damage, individually and societally, of antibiotic use· The difficult decisions ahead related to medical care and the food systemGrounded in the latest scientific research and translated for general readers, Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers a clear-eyed overview of where we are, and what the future holds, as antibiotics lose their might.

As the largest and youngest minority group in the United States, the 60 million Latinos living in the U.S. represent the second-largest concentration of Hispanic people in the entire world, after Mexico. Needless to say, the population of Latinos in the U.S. is causing a shift, not only changing the demographic landscape of the country, but also impacting national culture, politics, and spoken language. While Latinos comprise a diverse minority group--with various religious beliefs, political ideologies, and social values--commentators on both sides of the political divide have lumped Latino Americans into a homogenous group that is often misunderstood. Latinos in the United States: What Everyone Need to Know® provides a comprehensive, multifaceted exploration of Latino American history and culture and the forces shaping this minority group in the U.S. From exploring the origins of the term "latino" and examining what constitutes Latin America, to tracing topical issues like DREAMers, the mass incarceration of Latino males, and the controversial relationship between Latin America and the United States, Ilan Stavans seeks to understand the complexities and unique position of Latino Americans. Throughout he breaks down the various subgroups within the Latino minority (Mexican-Americans, Dominican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Puerto Ricans on the mainland, and so on), and the degree to which these groups constitute--or don't--a homogenous community, their history, and where their future challenges lay. He sees Latino culture as undergoing dramatic changes as a result of acculturation--changes that are fostering a new "mestizo" identity that is part Hispanic and part American. However, Latinos living in the United States are also impacting American culture. As Ilan Stavans argues, no other minority group will have a more decisive impact on the future of the United States.

The topic of white privilege has always triggered widespread debate, and the current media attention to police brutality and race relations in the United States has infused the conversation with highly polarizing, emotional responses. What is missing, however, is a nuanced discussion of the subject that can potentially move us beyond such contentious divisions. In White Privilege: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Abby Ferber fills this need and provides succinct but in-depth coverage that will serve as a solid foundation for educated conversation. She touches on the essential components of white privilege-its history, how it operates, how it is discussed publicly, and how it intersects with other kinds of privilege, including gender, sexuality, and disability. While the book focuses primarily on white privilege in the US, Ferber notes how it is experienced globally. Ferber addresses common misconceptions about privilege (e.g., How can I be privileged if I face discrimination too? How can people alive now be held responsible for historical injustices, such as slavery?), and concludes with a section on how white privilege is changing now and into the future.

The topic of white privilege has always triggered widespread debate, and the current media attention to police brutality and race relations in the United States has infused the conversation with highly polarizing, emotional responses. What is missing, however, is a nuanced discussion of the subject that can potentially move us beyond such contentious divisions. In White Privilege: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Abby Ferber fills this need and provides succinct but in-depth coverage that will serve as a solid foundation for educated conversation. She touches on the essential components of white privilege-its history, how it operates, how it is discussed publicly, and how it intersects with other kinds of privilege, including gender, sexuality, and disability. While the book focuses primarily on white privilege in the US, Ferber notes how it is experienced globally. Ferber addresses common misconceptions about privilege (e.g., How can I be privileged if I face discrimination too? How can people alive now be held responsible for historical injustices, such as slavery?), and concludes with a section on how white privilege is changing now and into the future.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The 2016 elections gave the Republican Party control of both houses Congress and the presidency--a level of dominance the party had experienced for only six years out of the previous eight decades. Combined with the GOP's victories in state legislatures and governorships since 2010, Republicans held a greater opportunity to reshape the nation than at any time since the 1920s.And yet, Republican strategists were painfully aware that the party had lost the popular vote in six of the previous seven presidential elections. The presidency had fallen to Donald Trump, a populist outsider who had mounted what was, in effect, a hostile takeover of the Republican establishment. The party's internal divisions had become so volatile that they had come close to blowing up the Republican National Convention in Cleveland that summer. The Republican-controlled Congress had experienced infighting so severe that the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, had been overthrown and his successor, Paul Ryan, had been plagued by an inability to pass consequential legislation. An unprecedented number of GOP officeholders, activists, and voters harbored dark suspicions that they had been betrayed by their own party leaders. And few had answers to the basic question: What does the Republican Party still stand for, anyway? Geoffrey Kabaservice's Conservatism and the Republican Party: What Everyone Needs to Know will provide a narrative and analysis of the Republican Party's shambolic trajectory into triumph and chaos. It will revisit the theme of my previous book concerning the GOP's purge of moderates over the previous half-century and its transformation into an ideological party unlike any other in American history. But it will also track the emerging divisions within the conservative movement, tendencies toward extremism, growing hostility toward governing, and breakdown of the American political system - most vividly demonstrated by the Trump phenomenon.

When Deng Xiaoping introduced market reforms in the late 1970s, few would have imagined what the next four decades would bring. China's GDP has grown on average nearly 10 percent annually since, and its economy is now the second largest in the world. Forty years ago, the Flying Pigeon bicycle ruled the roads; today, China is the world's largest car market. And if forty years ago you looked out across the Huangpu River from the Bund in Shanghai, you would have seen farmland and a few warehouses and wharves; now you see the stunning, futuristic cityscape of Pudong. The material progress of the past forty years has been staggering-a source of pride for the Chinese people, as well as a source of legitimacy for the ruling Chinese Communist Party. But that progress has come at great cost: the extreme pollution of China's air, water, and soil has taken a stark toll on human health. In Environmental Pollution in China: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Daniel K. Gardner examines the range of factors-economic, social, political, and historical-contributing to the degradation of China's environment. He also covers the public response to the widespread pollution; the measures the government is taking to clean up the environment; and the country's efforts to lessen its dependence on fossil fuels and develop clean sources of energy. Concise, accessible, and authoritative, this book serves as an ideal primer on one of the world's most challenging environmental crises.