The book asserts that every individual and government operates according to an “operational code”—a set of guiding principles that shape decisions and actions, often invisible yet profoundly influential. Operational codes, rooted in culture, diplomacy, and politics can foster cooperation or ignite conflict when they collide. From the origins of the concept in Cold War foreign policy analysis to its application across cultural, governmental, and global norms, this book offers the first comp...

The superfamily Chalcidoidea (the jewel wasps) are part of the insect order Hymenoptera. The superfamily comprises more than 27,000 known species, with an estimated total diversity of more than 500,000 species, meaning that the vast majority have yet to be discovered and described. Most of the species are parasitoids, attacking the egg, larval stage or pupal stage of their host, though many other life cycles are known including gall associates and fig pollinators. This landmark volume has ...

Weaving a critique of major power intervention into political history, this book provides a comprehensive overview of Cambodia from 1953 to the present.Since gaining its independence in 1953, Cambodia has been treated as a pawn by more powerful countries. China, Vietnam, the United Nations, and especially the United States have played a role in shaping Cambodia's history, from propping up the Khmer Rouge regime to restricting its economic opportunities.Mich...

Julius Korngold, critic at the highly influential newspaper Neue Freie Presse, was close to and supportive of Gustav Mahler and, for the first time, essays on the man and his music are made available in English. Those on his time at Vienna’s Imperial Opera are extensive and well informed.Both Korngold and Mahler shared a common Moravian Jewish background, born in 1860 and both students of Anton Bruckner. The paper was Jewish owned, and Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zio...

This book identifies why presidents, prime ministers, and other leaders of countries often make blunders in foreign policy. Blunders have been recognized within the study of foreign policy, but no central methodology or theory has developed to provide a way to avoid future disasters. Options are often presented to leaders of countries by advisers who do not always assess which policies will best serve national interests. Presidents, prime ministers, and other leaders of countries then have...

Civil war in the United States is now a mainstream topic due to apparent signs of ongoing planning. This book reveals why in several ways. First, four major ideological drivers of possible conflict are identified. Next, ten arenas of ongoing nonviolent civil war are traced as increasingly for micro-level violence. Then several dozen alternative scenarios are traced to explain how civil war could break out very soon. Finally, measures are delineated about how the country might prevent calam...

Donald Trump, as president, sought to undermine fundamental norms and principles of American government, institutionalizing bigotry, and therefore damaged American society. Details are provided on how he carried out a racist and sexist agenda, endangered the lives of LGBQTs, terrorized immigrants, allowed exploitation of the environment, endangered public health and the lives of seniors, and tried to abolish the social safety net, while trying to construct an economic oligarchy around him ...

Democracy rests on ten pillars. However, they have fallen in the United States because both major political parties have strayed from the concept of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. One party wants to recreate life in the past, while the other party appeals to the economic self-interest of specific groups. The coup on January 6, 2021, has prompted a fundamental analysis of what has gone wrong, but proposed corrections have failed to strengthen belief in democrac...

The disastrous handling of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in the United States calls out for an explanation of who is to blame for a disease that could have been contained but instead became an epidemic. Donald Trump, who plays so many roles in life, was unable to fathom how to deal with the problem, but others in his administration made serious mistakes as well. Readers will discover the scope of the errors in an entirely factual, chronological account from the first word about the outbreak t...

Feature films are jam-packed with political messages. This volume provides the tools for analyzing the politics embedded in films. Contributors reveal how subliminal messages are a clue to how the public perceives political reality through otherwise entertaining feature films.The volume is divided into two parts: Part One focuses on defining political films while Part Two looks at how «politics» is defined within films. Contributors find several ways of defining «political films», b...

With a foreword written by former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, this book portrays President Barack Obama as a true child of Hawai'i and explains why he believes that America can achieve even more greatness by learning from the multicultural customs of the 50th state.Obama's aspiration to transform the United States using Hawai'i as his model has been a conspicuous theme in his books and speeches over the years. In them, he extols Hawai'i's multicultural ...

Infrastructure Computer Vision delves into this field of computer science that works on enabling computers to see, identify, process images and provide appropriate output in the same way that human vision does. However, implementing these advanced information and sensing technologies is difficult for many engineers. This book provides civil engineers with the technical detail of this advanced technology and how to apply it to their individual projects. - Explains how to best capture raw ge...