Greenwood Press

The thinkers 50; the world's most influential business writers and leaders.

Based on a recent international survey, Parker presents a collection of brief profiles of scholars, educators, consultants, executives, economists, and social scientists, whose ideas set the agenda for management theory and practice, and whose actions and recommendations influence commerce worldwide. The ranking is based on input from visitors to the "Thinkers 50" website, and through e-mails from the Thinkers 50 team to hundreds of business people, consultants, academics, and MBA students throughout the world. Organized alphabetically, each of the entries features a concise description of the individual's background, key contributions to his/her area of specialization, and a list of resources for further reading. The author is the research director for the London-based Business Communication Forum and teaches at the business school of Dublin City U. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The three U.S.-Mexico border wars; drugs, immigration, and Homeland Security.

In this text for policy makers and concerned citizens, Payan describes how the war on drugs, the war over the enforcement of immigration laws, and the war on terror have affected relations between Mexico and the U.S. and their shared border. Particular attention is paid to the conflict between the U.S. government's efforts to close the border and the desire of residents of local communities to keep it open. Payan teaches international relations and foreign policy at the U. of Texas at El Paso. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Twilight in the kingdom; understanding the Saudis.

Caudill, a 15-year US Foreign Service officer who served in Saudi Arabia from 1999 to 2002, offers an edited compilation of his unclassified dispatches to Washington policymakers on the desert kingdom. His perspective differed from many other US diplomats in that he purposefully sought to participate in the daily lives of the country's various strata by converting to Islam and worshipping in mosques that variously catered to South Asian guest workers, Yemeni and Sudanese illegal aliens, and middle class and lower-middle class Saudi citizens, among others. From this project comes a view that is still distinctly American in its concerns but perhaps more nuanced and informed than if Caudill had limited his experiences to meetings with members of the sclerotic House of Saud, as is the case with most US government officials. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The war in Iraq and why the media failed us.

It is perhaps a truism to note that the Bush administration's greatest domestic ally in his effort to invade Iraq was the US media, which consistently failed to question even the most outrageous and, often, demonstrably false assertions and insinuations about the danger posed by Saddam Hussein coming from administration figures and their congressional supporters. In addition to documenting this miserable performance, Dadge (editor, International Press Institute, Austria) explores some of the explanations for the media's behavior, including media corporate consolidation, government pressure, and "patriotic" self-censorship stemming from the 9-11 attacks. In the end, he somewhat surprisingly concludes that the media is capable of reforming itself, so long as it develops a new skepticism towards government and supports editorial independence. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Wilma Rudolph; a biography.

For high school students, Smith (kinesiology and health science, California State U.) presents a much-needed biography of athlete Wilma Rudolph (b. 1940) — her autobiography is the only other account of her life. She traces Rudolph's early childhood and bout with polio, her Olympic medals in track in 1956 and 1960, other competitions she participated in, and difficulties when her athletic career ended. One chapter discusses her autobiography, and the final chapter describes her influence on other female athletes. The appendix consists of a list of performances of African American women in Olympic track and field. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Women in power; world leaders since 1960.

Some can attribute their accession to authority to decades of political struggle. Others can point to a lifelong commitment to supporting tradition, albeit with a bit of difference in their cases. Some hold power through faith, others through family. Yet one significant element in these 22 leaders is the same: they are all women. Hodgensen (political science, U. of Tromso, Norway) and Solheim (history. Citrus College, California) examine the lives and work of women from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas from the 1960s onward, analyzing their political and social impact as politicians, agents of change, and role models. They also provide an analysis of differing theories about women's leadership and feminist theories and describe potential candidates for the US presidency at theoretical and practical levels. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)