Lost Opportunities

Northeast India has been beset with insurgencies for more than fifty years. The Nagas rebelled in the early 1950s, and since then, insurgency in some form or the other has spread to all the states of the northeast, popularly known as the Seven Sisters. This book takes a critical look at the many insurgencies in this strategic region and reviews their genesis, motivations, and characteristics. Why have these persisted despite interventions by the state and civil society? Over the years, the insurgencies have developed external linkages, which have only complicated matters. The book also critically examines the government's response and traces the development of counter-insurgency strategies, from finding a military solution to winning the hearts and minds of the populace. It is a fascinating but sad story of missed opportunities.

Learning in informal settings is attracting growing attention from policymakers and researchers, yet there remains, at the moment, a dearth of literature on the topic. Thus this volume, which examines how science and mathematics are experienced in everyday and out-of-school-time (OST) settings, makes an important contribution to the field of the learning sciences. Conducting research on OST learning requires us to broaden and deepen our conceptions of learning as well as to better identify the unique and common qualities of different learning settings. We must also find better ways to analyze the interplay between OST and school-based learning. In this volume, scholars develop theoretical structures that are useful not only for understanding learning processes, but also for helping to create and support new opportunities for learning, whether they are in or out of school, or bridging a range of settings. The chapters in this volume include studies of everyday and ‘situated’ processes that facilitate science and mathematics learning. They also feature new theoretical and empirical frameworks for studying learning pathways that span both in- and out-of-school time and settings. Contributors also examine structured OST programs in which everyday and situated modes of learning are leveraged in support of more disciplined practices and conceptions of science and mathematics. Fortifying much of this work is a leading focus on educational equity—a desire to foster more socially supportive and intellectually engaging science and mathematics learning opportunities for youth from historically non-dominant communities. Full of compelling examples and revealing analysis, this book is a vital addition to the literature on a subject with a fast-rising profile.

This book is about the politics of Myanmar under the reformist president Thein Sein. After taking office in March 2011, Thein Sein initiated the bloodless Myanmar Spring. He was able to transform Myanmar into a more transparent and dynamic society, bring Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition activists into the political process, initiate a peace process with the ethnic armed organizations, reintegrate Myanmar into the international community after five decades of isolation, and, most importantly, for the first time since the country regained independence in 1948, he was able to enact the peaceful transfer of power from one elected government to another. But Thein Sein also lost opportunities to deliver what the people anticipated, and he failed to bring his USDP party to victory in the 2015 election. This book is not about the successes of the Thein Sein administration. Rather, it examines the reasons behind the lost opportunities in the transition to democracy. It draws on the author’s experiences as a member of Thein Sein’s cabinet as well as on extensive interviews with other cabinet members and politicians involved in the crucial events that took place between 2010 and 2016. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in this critical period of change for Myanmar.

First published in 1924, German General Max Hoffmann’s The War of Lost Opportunities examines missed opportunities for the German military during the First World War. The book takes particular note of The Battle of Tannenberg fought between August 26-30, 1914, which resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army and the suicide of its commanding general, Alexander Samsonov. The battle also led to the 1918 Spring Offensive—otherwise known as Kaiserschlacht (“Kaiser’s Battle”), or the Ludendorff Offensive—which saw a series of German attacks along the Western Front, beginning on 21 March 1918, that marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914. An invaluable addition to any First World War book collection.

Tells the story of Australia's integration into the international economy. It traces the Australian economy from Federation to its downturn the 1970s and assesses the current state of play. Topics include the rise of economic rationalism, demographic and social repercussions of globalisation, and the emerging power of the Asia-Pacific region.