Synopses & Reviews
Syrian foreign policy, always opaque, has become an even greater puzzle during the Syrian revolt. Irrespective of the regime's international isolation in the wake of its violent response to domestic protest, it has paid lip-service to international peace plans while unperturbedly crushing the rebellion. The rare televised appearances of President Assad have shown a leader detached from reality. Has he-in his own words-'gone crazy'? In this book long- time Syria analyst and former diplomat Bente Scheller contends that Bashar Assad's deadly waiting game is following its own logic: whatever difficulties the Syrian regime has faced, its previous experience has been that it can simply sit out the current crisis.
The difference this time is that Syria faces a double crisis-internal and external. While Hafez Assad, renowned as an astute politician, adapted to new challenges, his son, Bashar, seems to have no alternative plan of action.
Scheller's timely book analyses Syrian foreign policy after the global upheavals of 1989, which was at the time a glorious new beginning for the regime. She shows how Bashar Assad, by ignoring change both inside Syria and in the region, has sacrificed his father's focus on national security in favour of a policy of regime survival and offers a candid analysis of the successes and shortcomings of Syrian foreign policy in recent years.
Review
"...an appreciated addition to the multitude of uninspired texts in this field."--Doody's
"The range of themes covered in this handbook is truly impressive...In view of the high quality of the chapters in the handbook, the reader's appetite is whetted for more of the same."--PsycCRITIQUES
Review
"An excellent analysis of Syrian foreign policy under Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, and how Assad senior succeeded in making Syria's foreign policy a bargaining chip in stabilizing his rule domestically. Bente Scheller's book also give us a comprehensive understanding of how the personal character of Syria's leaders have been reflected in their foreign policy decisions." --Radwan Ziadeh, co-founder and executive director of the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C. and author of Power and Policy in Syria
"'In the midst of an avalanche of Syria-related books, The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game is a much needed breath of fresh air. Finally, we find a well thought through, well researched and beautifully written book on the nearly three-year Syrian Revolt. Bente Scheller, living up to her well-earned reputation as an A-class Syria expert, has written a volume that is intended to last long after the curtain falls on the Syrian Revolt. In foreign policy she has chosen the most unconventional topic for a country at war, analysing how and why Syria has reached its current state of affairs. Scheller delves deep into domestic factors, too, brilliantly interweaving them with the aspirations, fears, and ambitions of the Damascus government how they influence foreign policy and are influenced by it. This book is a must for the Middle East library, making Bente Scheller Europe's finest Syria expert."-- Sami Moubayed, Syrian historian and visting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center (Beirut)
"An excellent and groundbreaking study, filling an important gap in Syria studies. Scheller's work provides essential insights into what one can expect of the present Syrian Ba'th regime with regard to its suppression of the Syrian Revolution. It is a very timely account of how the Syrian regime, despite periods of deep crisis and heavy foreign pressures, has managed, for decades, to stay in power. Scheller eloquently explains the complex and shifting relations between Syria, its regional neighbours and the world. This book is a must-read for those seriously interested in Syria." -- Nikolaos van Dam, author of The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society under Asad and the Ba'th Party
"Bente Scheller has written a timely and sober analysis of Syrian foreign policy. Anyone interested in understanding why the Assads have lasted for over 40 years and why their missteps led to the revolt of 2011 should read this book." -- Joshua M. Landis, Director, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma, and author of SyriaComment.com
"Balanced, well-researched and authored by someone who lived and worked in Syria for years, Scheller's book steps back from humanitarian considerations and the endless debate on the dangers of jihadism and asks whether, logically and based on prior experience, any sort of diplomatic effort could actually achieve real gains." -- Italian Insider
" ... a well-referenced analysis of Syria's foreign policy from the 1990s ... [that] pins down the right question that informs Syria's foreign policy choices." -- International Affairs
"...topical and timely... a comprehensive understanding of how the personal character of Syria's leaders has been reflected in their foreign policy decisions." -- The Muslim World Book Review
"The author of this excellent and timely book has good credentials as a Syria expert ... The detailed chapters contain some well-researched and useful insights into the regime's approach... This is an important read for anyone trying to get to grips with the complexities of the Syrian conflict.' -- Henry Hogger, Asian Affairs
"Scheller's topical and timely bookELoffers a candid analysis of the successes and shortcomings of Syrian foreign policy in recent years." -- Elfaith A. Abel Salam, The Muslim World Book Review, 2014
Synopsis
Evolution and learning in games is a topic of current intense interest. Evolution theory is widely viewed as one of the most promising approaches to understanding learning, bounded rationality, and change in complex social environments. This book covers the recent developments with an emphasis on economic contexts and applications. Systematically presenting both deterministic and stochastic evolutionary dynamics which play an important role in evolutionary processes, it also includes the recent stochastic evolutionary framework that has been developed (and applied widely) in the last few years.
Synopsis
Though psychology as a discipline has grown enormously in popularity in recent years, compulsory courses in research methods and statistics are seldom embarked upon with any great enthusiasm within the undergraduate and postgraduate communities. Many postgraduate and PhD students start their research ill-equipped to design effective experiments and to properly analyse their results. This lack of knowledge also limits their ability to critically assess and evaluate research done by others.
This book is a practical guide to carrying out research in health psychology and clinical psychology. It bridges the gap between undergraduate and postgraduate study. As well as describing the various techniques and methods available to students, it provides them with a proper understanding of what a specific technique does - going beyond the introductory descriptions typical of most undergraduate methods books. The book describes both quantitative and qualititative approaches to data collection, providing valuable advice on methods ranging from psychometric testing to discourse analysis. For both undergraduate and postgraduate students, the book will be essential in making them aware of the full range of techniques available, helping them to design scientifically rigorous experiments, and effectively analyse their results.
About the Author
Bente Scheller is Director of the Beirut based Middle East office of Heinrich- Böll-Stiftung, a political foundation close to the German Green Party, and Marshall Memorial Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She holds a PhD from Free University of Berlin and specialises in foreign and security policy. Between 2002 and 2004 she was posted at the German Embassy in Damascus.
Table of Contents
Introduction,
Jeremy Miles and Paul Gilbert1. Thinking about research: issues and dilemmas, Paul Gilbert and C Irons
2. Sampling in health and clinical psychology research, Heather Buchanan and Neil Coulson
3. Ethical research is better research, Bruce Napier
4. Research with children, Sally-Ann Clarke, Jo Lawford, Linda Sheppard and Christine Eiser
5. The measurement of physiological outcomes in health and clinical psychology, Mark A Wetherell and Kav Vedhara
6. Semi-structured interviewing, Fiona Fylan
7. Using focus groups: exploring the meanings of health and illness, Sue Wilkinson
8. Using and evaluating psychometric measures: practical and theoretical considerations, Darcy A Santor
9. The use of diary methodologies in health and clinical psychology, Eamonn Ferguson
10. Analysis of repertory grids in clinical practice, Chris Leach and Kate Freshwater
11. Descriptive and interpretive approaches to qualitative research, Robert Elliott and Ladislav Timulak
12. Discursive approaches, Elizabeth H Stokoe and Sally Wiggins
13. Experimental methods in clinical and health research, Andy P Field and Graham C L Davey
14. The importance of considering effect size and statistical power in research, David Clark-Carter
15. Reliability, Susanne Hempel
16. Analysing categorical data, Chris Fife-Schaw
17. General and generalised linear models, Jeremy Miles
18. Survival analysis, Peter Watson
19. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in clinical and health psychology, Mark Shevlin
20. Applications of structural equation modelling in clinical and health psychology research, Rick H Hoyle
21. Some statistical and graphical strategies for exploring the effect of longitudinal data in health research, Gary Adamson and Brendan Bunting
22. Meta-analysis, Andy P Field