The Big Stick

"Speak softly and carry a big stick" Theodore Roosevelt famously said in 1901, when the United States was emerging as a great power. It was the right sentiment, perhaps, in an age of imperial rivalry but today many Americans doubt the utility of their global military presence, thinking it outdated, unnecessary or even dangerous. In The Big Stick, Eliot A. Cohen-a scholar and practitioner of international relations-disagrees. He argues that hard power remains essential for American foreign policy. While acknowledging that the US must be careful about why, when, and how it uses force, he insists that its international role is as critical as ever, and armed force is vital to that role. Cohen explains that American leaders must learn to use hard power in new ways and for new circumstances. The rise of a well-armed China, Russia's conquest of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, and the spread of radical Islamist movements like ISIS are some of the key threats to global peace. If the United States relinquishes its position as a strong but prudent military power, and fails to accept its role as the guardian of a stable world order we run the risk of unleashing disorder, violence and tyranny on a scale not seen since the 1930s. The US is still, as Madeleine Albright once dubbed it, "the indispensable nation."

"A sexy NHL player, a sassy heroine, and a heartfelt romance that kept me engaged from beginning to end!" — NYT bestseller Mia Sheridan Hockey is my life. And it's a great one. There's an endless line of women, and I get to hang with my best friend Oli. Everything is perfect until she shows up. Oli's twin sister, Flynn—who hates my guts. I don't blame her. I'm part of one of the worst nights of her life. Now she's next door and seeing her every day is slowly killing me. I wonder if we can ever get back to being the friends we used to be. The way she looks at me sometimes...well, let's just say my hockey stick isn't the only thing that's feeling hard these days. But if she finds out the secrets I'm keeping, forgiveness will be the last thing on her mind.

A funny, poignant and inspirational story of widely acclaimed comedian, writer and producer, Tim Ferguson. Tim Ferguson was a star of the international comedy circuit. Along with Paul McDermott and Richard Fidler he was part of the edgy, provocative and very funny Doug Anthony Allstars (DAAS). In 1994 they were at the height of their powers, performing in a season at the Criterion Theatre on Piccadilly Circus. The three mates, who began busking on the streets of Canberra a decade earlier, had achieved their ambition to become the self-styled rock stars of comedy. Then, all of a sudden, Tim woke up one morning and his whole left side wouldn't work. He'd had a lurking suspicion that something was wrong and after more episodes he went to a doctor thinking he'd be told to change his diet and get more sleep. It wasn't so simple. An eventual diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) meant an end to the frenetic, high-energy life he was living. Carry a Big Stick is a chance for Tim to tell his story. He wants to make people laugh but also give inspiration to all the people doing it hard. A lot of people keep MS to themselves because it's invisible. In Tim's case, he has the stick. 'It's such a visible sign that something's happened; it's just easier if people know.' Carry a Big Stick meanders through Tim's life, and explains how the boy who went to nine schools in 13 years got used to saying, 'Hi, I'm the new kid'. It will detail his ambitions to become an actor and how the Doug Anthony Allstars were born and went on to become what Rolling Stone called 'The 3 amigos from hell'. Diagnosis changed a lot of things but Tim's quick wit and sense of humour weren't affected. This inspiring memoir shows us that you can laugh in the face of adversity.

Few people in the US are aware that we have intervened more persistently in Nicaragua than in any other country in the hemisphere except Mexico and Cuba, whose geographic proximity to the United States has historically put them in a special category. Today's confrontation between the US and Nicaragua did not begin in 1979; it is but the latest chapter in a story that began more than 130 years ago. - p. [vii].

A riveting and frequently hilarious insider account of one of the twentieth century’s most outrageous capers. On the evening of January 17, 1950, armed robbers wearing Captain Marvel masks entered the Brink’s Armored Car building in Boston, Massachusetts. They walked out less than an hour later with more than $2.7 million in cash and securities. It was a brazen and expertly executed theft that captured the imaginations of millions of Americans and baffled the FBI and local law enforcement officials. But what appeared on the surface to be the perfect crime was, in fact, the end result of a mind-boggling series of mistakes, miscalculations, and missteps. The men behind the masks were not expert bank robbers but a motley crew of small-time crooks who bumbled their way into a record-breaking payday and managed to elude the long arm of the law for six years. New York Times–bestselling author Noel Behn tape-recorded nearly one thousand hours of interviews with the surviving robbers, including motormouthed mastermind Tony Pino, a character so colorful he might have been dreamed up by a Hollywood screenwriter, to tell the uncensored story of the heist forever known as “the Great Brink’s Robbery.” Fun and suspenseful from first page to last, Behn’s true-crime classic was the basis for The Brink’s Job (1978), the Academy Award–nominated film directed by William Friedkin and starring Peter Falk and Peter Boyle.

"Broadcasters have always been coddled by politicians, and Speak Softly explains how and why. J.H. Snider tells the story with the rigor of a scholar, the doggedness of an investigative reporter and the zeal of a reformer."--Paul Taylor, Executive Vice President, Pew Research Center "J.H. Snider offers an extremely comprehensive and well-documented look 'behind the curtain' at how the National Association of Broadcasters drives its national legislative agenda. This is must reading for not only political scientists but for all who are interested in media policy and how it gets made in Washington."-Chellie Pingree, President and CEO, Common Cause "This astute book is a first-rate work of original scholarship. It also provides an unsettling description of broadcasters' policy influence. When their own interests are involved, broadcasters cannot be trusted to act in the way they demand of all others in society. Readers will no doubt question whether J.H. Snider's recommended solution is a practical one. But no reader will question his call for new measures."-Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, Harvard University "Having played a role in the mad-cap drama of telecommunications legislation Snider documents, I can tell you he has captured the essence of the machinations, strange bedfellows, and almost single-minded, righteous self-interest that drives the telecommunications debate. Like it or not, this is how the power game is really played."-Stephen R. Effros, Former President (1976-1999), Cable Telecommunications Association "Speak Softly documents the broadcast industry's striking influence on public policy, including the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996. As Congress gears up to re-write the Act, J.H. Snider's analysis is particularly timely."-Kevin Werbach, Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

This encyclopedia offers authoritative coverage of the concepts, traditions, events, and individuals that shaped United States' foreign relations from the American Revolution to the present. Belligerents, Brinkmanship, and the Big Stick: A Historical Encyclopedia of American Diplomatic Concepts is the first comprehensive encyclopedic work to focus specifically on America's extraordinary history of political engagement with the world. With hundreds of alphabetically organized entries and a rich collection of primary sources, it offers a unique way of understanding the centrality of diplomacy and the role of foreign relations throughout U.S. history. The encyclopedia is divided into five chronological sections, each containing a brief introduction, topical entries, biographical portraits, and representative documents. It is designed to help readers gain a deeper understanding of both general ideas as well as specific policies like the Monroe Doctrine, the Open Door Policy, and Shuttle Diplomacy. By examining seminal events, important ideas, and individual contributions in the context of U.S. history, the encyclopedia reveals the underlying traditions and motivations of American foreign policy as it has evolved over time.