Power Trap

In 2011 the Harper Conservatives won a majority government with a minority of votes. If the opposition parties were willing to work together, they would have an excellent chance of defeating the Conservatives in the next election. Yet a merger doesn't seem to be in the cards any time soon. In Power Trap, veteran journalist Paul Adams draws on many hours of interviews with politicians and insiders as he explores the issues that are keeping the opposition parties apart. What he discovers is that the ambitions, animosities, and hidden agendas of these parties are standing in the way of the kinds of government that a majority of Canadians want. Because the Liberals believe they can still recover power and the NDP no longer see a compelling reason to join forces, neither party is willing to work with the others. The result of that all the opposition parties are caught in a trap, focused on partisan politics and unwilling to do what is necessary to defeat the Conservatives. Adams tells a story of institutions and people who have lost sight of the need to put the public interest first. Yet there is a way to create a merged party that will attract a majority of voters and put an end to the Harper era.

“It is now generally accepted that the world’s climate has entered into a phase of warming with potentially disastrous consequences for the planet, but there is no agreement about how to deal with it...” The ‘global energy trap’ refers to the fact that our civilisation has been built on energy derived from fossil fuels – and when these are exhausted, there must be a collapse of some kind. However, long before we have run them down to exhaustion we shall have pushed atmospheric pollution and global warming beyond a tipping point. In this situation there is no rational choice except to develop clean, renewable energy sources with all deliberate haste. How this can be done is The Global Energy Trap and a Way Out’s central theme, and is fully explored at length. Although the answer is largely one of innovative engineering, other social and economic factors must be taken into account. Dr Parkinson provides us with an informative and accessible overview of the current situation we find ourselves in, as well as providing us with ideas for the future. The Global Energy Trap and a Way Out will appeal to those interested in all aspects of the increasingly urgent problem of global warming.

How much of our plague of low energy is due to a recognized “disease”? How much falls outside this disease model, yet is still medically significant? Escaping The Low Energy Trap is the first to take a common symptom and examine its uncommon roots as it impacts one’s energy irrespective of whether the cause is considered a disease, nutritional deficiency, medical condition or some other imbalance manifesting indefinitely and cyclically taxing one’s energy reserves. Written by a clinician speaking to his/her patient, plagued with persistent low energy to the point that lifestyle is impacted, it asks the question that one’s well informed doctor should be asking. It answers them with information a lay person can understand and use, systematically checking off all possible sources, uncommon sources, presently overlooked by mainstream medicine. Myths about low energy causes are dispelled. When is low energy a red flag? It walks you through the signs commonly overlooked and what they mean. It provides you with consequences for ignoring these signs. Obvious and not so obvious culprits are identified. It explains how allopathic medicine is designed to miss these culprits. It spells out what you can do to unveil your cause(s) for low energy. It will let you know how much you can do on your own and how to access laboratory tests that will act as guideposts for your recovery. With this life changing insight, answers and opportunities unveil to help you escape from your low energy trap!

This volume discusses Korea’s role as a middle power in the midst of the 21st century global power shift. Focusing on Korea’s middle power diplomacy from the perspective of coalition building, the book discusses structural factors that shape middle power strategy and diplomacy. Written by leading Korean researchers, the chapters use diverse methodologies to offer a range of perspectives on Korea’s place in the developing global order. Topics discussed include South Korea’s approach to technology policy in the midst of US-China cyber competition, the East Asian ‘Thucydides Trap’, MITKA and middle power diplomacy, Korea’s role in the South China Sea dispute, and South Korean cyber security. Providing a unique treatment of middle power opportunities and motivations in the East Asia region, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, Asian politics, diplomacy, security studies, and global governance.

Describes the energy crisis, its link to the gross national product, and alternatives for current and future fuel resources.

The first comprehensive political science account of energy poverty, arguing that governments can improve energy access for their citizens through appropriate policy design. In today's industrialized world, almost everything we do consumes energy. While industrialized countries enjoy all the amenities of modern energy, more than a billion people in the developing world still lack energy access. Why is energy poverty persistent in some countries and not in others? Offering the first comprehensive political science account of energy poverty, Escaping the Energy Poverty Trap explores why governments have or have not been able to lead in providing modern energy to their least advantaged citizens. Focusing on access to modern cooking fuels and household electrification, the authors develop a new political-economic theory that introduces government interest, institutional capacity, and local accountability as key determinants of energy access. They draw on case studies from India, East Asia, Africa, and Latin America to offer the optimistic conclusion that governments can improve institutional capacity and local accountability through appropriate policy design. Energy poverty is a policy problem, the authors assert, and engaging with it as such offers new opportunities not only for ensuring equal energy access, but also for political, economic, and environmental development.