Edited by veteran Czech diplomat and senior religion scholar Glenn Hughes, The Presence of the Past presents new insights from a conference hosted by the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy at Florida International University, in cooperation with the Czech non-profit organization Post Bellumand the Vaclav Havel Library. Its fundamental topic is memory, the human capacity to retain its contents in the flux of time, which is explored and discussed both theoretically and in terms of current action-oriented public discourse.

In this engaging study, theatre scholar Robert J. Andreach argues, in what will be his final book, that the contemporary American theatre merits appreciation for dramatizing experiences in genres that jostle the audience into thinking about the experiences in new ways, based on five units of analysis: the naturalistic play, modernist theatre, trilogies, tragedy, and comedy.

In Conflict and Human Security Threats in Africa, South African scholar Victor Ojakorotu unravels the dynamics of conflicts and human security threats now affecting numerous African nations. While some of these conflicts are local, others are national and international. This current and highly engaging study captures multiple cases of insecurity, presenting discussions of terrorism, kidnapping, militia activities, human trafficking, political violence, teenage pregnancy, civil war, and armed conflicts, as well as strategies for their future management.

The phrase “solidarity of the shaken” was introduced into the today’s political vocabulary by Jan Patočka, one of the last students of the philosopher Edmund Husserl and undoubtedly the most important Czech philosopher of the twentieth century. In January 1977, Patočka became – together with Vaclav Havel and Jiri Hajek -- one of the first three spokespersons of Charter 77, Czechoslovakia’s anti-communist resistance movement. He died less than three months later, as a result of total exhaustion caused by days-long police interrogations.

We are now entering an era where the human world assumes recognition of itself as data. Much of humanity’s basis for existence is becoming subordinate to software processes that tabulate, index, and sort the relations that comprise what we perceive as reality. The acceleration of data collection threatens to relinquish ephemeral modes of representation to ceaseless processes of computation. This situation compels the human world to form relations with non-human agencies, to establish exchanges with software processes in order to allow a profound upgrade of our own ontological understanding.

Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon is a Senior Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. Her books include "The Art of Peace: Engaging a Complex World", "Notes From the Other Side of Night", "Soulmates: Resurrecting Eve"; "Why America is Such a Hard Sell": "Beyond Pride and Prejudice", and "The Bloody Flag: Post-Communist Nationalism in Eastern Europe -- Spotlight on Romania".

The period 1789-1939 was a time of dramatic, global social, political and economic transformation, with considerable ramifications for Jews and Judaism. From the dissolution of corporate status and new-found standing as individual citizens; from diverse, religious approaches to the interplay of Judaism and modernity, to competing notions of Jewish peoplehood and nationalism; from demographic growth to mass migration and relocation, this was an era of substantial change.

In this exciting new book, Taiwanese scholar Catherine Kai-Ping Lin examines Taiwan’s diplomatic history since the 1970s through the lens of sports in the development of nationalism in foreign relations. Since 1971, when Taiwan lost its United Nations seat to the communist People’s Republic of China, the country has gradually shifted its foreign policy.

Connecticut in Crisis: Policy Challenges and the 2018 Contest for Governor is Gary L. Rose’s most recent book on the New England political scene, a vital arena of American politics today. In this timely and penetrating volume, Rose explores five policy dilemmas currently facing Connecticut law makers.

In this engaging study of African diplomacy, Nigerian scholar Nwankwo Nwaeziegwe revisits the issue of cooperation between Arab nationalist governments and the nations of Sub-Saharan Africa. The book clinically explores the proper bases, character, and implications of Arab-Sub-Saharan relations through the lens of Arab nationalist diplomatic initiative and collective Black African development initiatives.