When the War Came Home

When the War Came Home
Author: Yiğit Akın
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2018-03-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1503604993

The Ottoman Empire was unprepared for the massive conflict of World War I. Lacking the infrastructure and resources necessary to wage a modern war, the empire's statesmen reached beyond the battlefield to sustain their war effort. They placed unprecedented hardships onto the shoulders of the Ottoman people: mass conscription, a state-controlled economy, widespread food shortages, and ethnic cleansing. By war's end, few aspects of Ottoman daily life remained untouched. When the War Came Home reveals the catastrophic impact of this global conflict on ordinary Ottomans. Drawing on a wide range of sources—from petitions, diaries, and newspapers to folk songs and religious texts—Yiğit Akın examines how Ottoman men and women experienced war on the home front as government authorities intervened ever more ruthlessly in their lives. The horrors of war brought home, paired with the empire's growing demands on its people, fundamentally reshaped interactions between Ottoman civilians, the military, and the state writ broadly. Ultimately, Akın argues that even as the empire lost the war on the battlefield, it was the destructiveness of the Ottoman state's wartime policies on the home front that led to the empire's disintegration.

In Pursuit of Justice

In Pursuit of Justice
Author: Richard B. Zabel
Publisher:
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2008
Genre: Law
ISBN:

In recent years, there has been much controversy about the proper forum in which to prosecute and punish suspected terrorists. Some have endorsed aggressive use of military commissions; others have proposed an entirely new "national security court." However, as the nation strives for a vigorous and effective response to terrorism, we should not lose sight of the important tools that are already at our disposal, nor should we forget the costs and risks of seeking to break new ground by departing from established institutions and practices. As this White Paper shows, the existing criminal justice system has proved successful at handling a large number of important and challenging terrorism prosecutions over the past fifteen years-without sacrificing national security interests, rigorous standards of fairness and due process, or just punishment for those guilty of terrorism-related crimes.

Firing Back

Firing Back
Author: Todd Akin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Conservatism
ISBN: 9781936488209

In Firing Back, six-term Congressman Todd Akin describes in eye-opening detail what it is like to be an unapologetic conservative in a town dominated by media bullies, back-room bosses, and liberals of either party. Although he tried to be a loyal Republican, Akin's first allegiance was always to the Constitution and his conservative principles. When the Bush administration lobbied him to approve its progressive legislative initiatives, No Child Left Behind and the Medicare prescription drug benefit, Akin refused. In the process, he made some serious enemies. Those enemies got their revenge after Akin made an awkward comment about rape. Although he had just won a hard-fought Republican primary in Missouri for US Senate, party bosses tried to coerce him to yield the nomination to their preferred candidate. When Akin refused, the bosses turned their back on him and let Democrat Claire McCaskill win. In Firing Back, Akin tells the story of how the Republican leadership not only threw him under the bus but also ran over him a few times for good measure. Not one of them explained what it was about Akin's remarks that so deeply offended them. Akin names names and takes numbers in Firing Back, but this book is much more than a tell-all. It is a battle-tested guide to Republicans and conservatives to help them find their courage, reclaim their integrity, and, by doing so, help preserve America's faith and freedom.