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Across the Aisle: Why Bipartisanship Works for America
by Tom Daschle John Harwood Olympia Snowe Curt Weldon Richard W. Painter Trent Lott Marjorie Randon Hershey Don Bonker Dan Glickman Marcy Kaptur Todd Young André Carson Allyson Y. Schwartz Charlene MacDonald Jason Altmire Paul Helmke Jill Long ThompsonBipartisanship has been essential to America's success throughout its history. Today, however, there seems waning interest by politicians in both parties to work together to address pressing issues and find solutions.In Across the Aisle, highly respected Republicans and Democrats argue persuasively that, time and again, bipartisanship on the local, state, and national levels has proven integral to moving America forward. Citing numerous examples, the contributors convincingly demonstrate that in the past and even in the present, politicians have set aside their differences and achieved compromises that put their towns, states, and country first. A compelling and inspirational reminder that a two-party system built on compromise and mutual respect is integral to a functioning democracy, Across the Aisle offers a lodestone for our divisive time.
Across the Aisle: The Seven-Year Journey of the Historic Montgomery GI Bill
by G. V. MontgomeryUsing gentle humor, some 450 visuals, and debate drawn from actual legislative events, the late U.S. Congressman G. V. “Sonny” Montgomery helps readers relive the Montgomery GI Bill’s 1987 enactment, while learning each step of the way. Across the Aisle’s extensive illustrative material brings the legislative process alive, as readers travel the historic legislative road with Congressman Montgomery himself as escort, storyteller, mentor, and colleague Congressman Montgomery served his Mississippi constituents for thirty years. Twenty-eight of those years included service on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, fourteen years as its chairman. Montgomery and a handful of colleagues understood that the success of our all-volunteer military would hinge on a permanent “GI Bill” education program. Indeed the Montgomery GI Bill has proven to help America on many fronts, including post-secondary education and training, national security, military recruiting, workforce and youth development, economic competitiveness, and civic leadership Montgomery’s unique first-person account brings Washington, D.C., and lawmaking alive with enduring lessons in leadership, persuasion, civility, and that timeless virtue—perseverance.
Across the Aisle
by David E. SmithHow do parties with official opposition status influence Canadian politics? Across the Aisle is an innovative examination of the theory and practice of opposition in Canada, both in Parliament and in provincial legislatures. Extending from the pre-Confederation era to the present day, it focuses on whether Canada has developed a coherent tradition of parliamentary opposition.David E. Smith argues that Canada has in fact failed to develop such a tradition. He investigates several possible reasons for this failure, including the long dominance of the Liberal party, which arrested the tradition of viewing the opposition as an alternative government; periods of minority government induced by the proliferation of parties; the role of the news media, which have largely displaced Parliament as a forum for commentary on government policy; and, finally, the increasing popularity of calls for direct action in politics.Readers of Across the Aisle will gain a renewed understanding of official opposition that goes beyond Stornoway and shadow cabinets, illuminating both the historical evolution and recent developments of opposition politics in Canada.
Across the Blocs: Exploring Comparative Cold War Cultural and Social History (Cold War History)
by Rana Mitter Patrick MajorThis book asks the reader to reassess the Cold War not just as superpower conflict and high diplomacy, but as social and cultural history. It makes cross-cultural comparisons of the socio cultural aspects of the Cold War across the East/West block divide, dealing with issues including broadcasting, public opinion, and the production and consumption of popular culture.
Across the Great Divide: Between Analytic and Continental Political Theory
by Jeremy ArnoldThe division between analytic and continental political theory remains as sharp as it is wide, rendering basic problems seemingly intractable. Across the Great Divide offers an accessible and compelling account of how this split has shaped the field of political philosophy and suggests means of addressing it. Rather than advocating a synthesis of these philosophical modes, author Jeremy Arnold argues for aporetic cross-tradition theorizing: bringing together both traditions in order to show how each is at once necessary and limited. Across the Great Divide engages with a range of fundamental political concepts and theorists—from state legitimacy and violence in the work of Stanley Cavell, to personal freedom and its civic institutionalization in Philip Pettit and Hannah Arendt, and justice in John Rawls and Jacques Derrida—not only illustrating the shortcomings of theoretical synthesis but also demonstrating a productive alternative. By outlining the failings of "political realism" as a synthetic cross-tradition approach to political theory and by modeling an aporetic mode of engagement, Arnold shows how we can better understand and address the pressing political issues of civil freedom and state justice today.
Across the Great Divide: Explorations In Collaborative Conservation And The American West
by Daniel Kemmis Sarah F. Bates Philip Brick Donald SnowAmid the policy gridlock that characterizes most environmental debates, a new conservation movement has emerged. Known as "collaborative conservation," it emphasizes local participation, sustainability, and inclusion of the disempowered, and focuses on voluntary compliance and consent rather than legal and regulatory enforcement. Encompassing a wide range of local partnerships and initiatives, it is changing the face of resource management throughout the western United States.Across the Great Divide presents a thoughtful exploration of this new movement, bringing together writing, reporting, and analysis of collaborative conservation from those directly involved in developing and implementing the approach. Contributors examine: the failure of traditional policy approaches recent economic and demographic changes that serve as a backdrop for the emergence of the movement the merits of, and drawbacks to, collaborative decision-making the challenges involved with integrating diverse voices and bringing all sectors of society into the movement .In addition, the book offers in-depth stories of eight noteworthy collaborative initiatives -- including the Quincy Library Group, Montana's Clark Fork River, the Applegate Partnership, and the Malpai Borderlands -- that explore how different groups have organized and acted to implement their goals.Among the contributors are Ed Marston, George Cameron Coggins, David Getches, Andy Stahl, Maria Varela, Luther Propst, Shirley Solomon, William Riebsame, Cassandra Moseley, Lynn Jungwirth, and others. Across the Great Divide is an important work for anyone involved with collaborative conservation or the larger environmental movement, and for all those who care about the future of resource management in the West.
Across the Lines of Conflict: Facilitating Cooperation to Build Peace
by Lund Michael McDonald SteveThrough a comparative analysis of six case studies, this volume illustrates key conflict-resolution techniques for peacebuilding. Outside parties learn how to facilitate cooperation by engaging local leaders in intensive, interactive workshops. These opposing leaders reside in small, ethnically divided countries, including Burundi, Cyprus, Estonia, Guyana, Sri Lanka, and Tajikistan, that have experienced communal conflicts in recent years. In Estonia and Guyana, peacebuilding initiatives sought to ward off violence. In Burundi and Sri Lanka, initiatives focused on ending ongoing hostilities, and in Cyprus and Tajikistan, these efforts brought peace to the country after its violence had ended. The contributors follow a systematic assessment framework, including a common set of questions for interviewing participants to prepare comparable results from a set of diverse cases. Their findings weigh the successes and failures of this particular approach to conflict resolution and draw conclusions about the conditions under which such interactive approaches work, as well as assess the audience and the methodologies used.This work features research conducted in conjunction with the Working Group on Preventing and Rebuilding Failed States, convened by the Wilson Center's Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity.
Across the Taiwan Strait: Mainland China, Taiwan and the 1995-1996 Crisis
by Suisheng ZhaoFirst Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Across Type, Time and Space: American Grand Strategy in Comparative Perspective (Elements in International Relations)
by Peter Dombrowski Simon ReichThe field of grand strategy is exceptionally American-centric theoretically, methodologically and empirically. Indeed, many scholars treat the United States as a unique case, and thus incomparable. This Element addresses the shortcomings of this approach by developing a novel framework for the purpose of systematic comparison, both within and among different countries. Using the United States as a benchmark, three dimensions are considered in which grand strategy can be compared: first, attributes of the major types commonly discussed in the literature; second, similarities and differences in the implementation of grand strategies over time, using US strategic relations with contemporary Russia as an example; and finally, across space, properties of the grand strategies that are interactively employed by other major powers in relation to the United States in the Indo-Pacific. The Element can be used by scholars and students alike to expand analysis beyond the confines that currently dominate the field.
Act Of Congress: How America's Essential Institution Works, And How It Doesn't
by Robert KaiserAn eye-opening account of how Congress today really works—and how it doesn’t— Act of Congress focuses on two of the major players behind the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008: colorful, wisecracking congressman Barney Frank, and careful, insightful senator Christopher Dodd, both of whom met regularly with Robert G. Kaiser during the eighteen months they worked on the bill. In this compelling narrative, Kaiser shows how staffers play a critical role, drafting the legislation and often making the crucial deals. Kaiser’s rare insider access enabled him to illuminate the often-hidden intricacies of legislative enterprise and shows us the workings of Congress in all of its complexity, a clearer picture than any we have had of how Congress works best—or sometimes doesn’t work at all.
Act of Congress: How America's Essential Institution Works, and How It Doesn't
by Robert G. KaiserAn eye-opening account of how Congress today really works--and doesn't--that follows the dramatic journey of the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008.The founding fathers expected Congress to be the most important branch of government and gave it the most power. When Congress is broken--as its justifiably dismal approval ratings suggest--so is our democracy. Here, Robert G. Kaiser, whose long and distinguished career at The Washington Post has made him as keen and knowledgeable an observer of Congress as we have, takes us behind the sound bites to expose the protocols, players, and politics of the House and Senate--revealing both the triumphs of the system and (more often) its fundamental flaws. Act of Congress tells the story of the Dodd-Frank Act, named for the two men who made it possible: Congressman Barney Frank, brilliant and sometimes abrasive, who mastered the details of financial reform, and Senator Chris Dodd, who worked patiently for months to fulfill his vision of a Senate that could still work on a bipartisan basis. Both Frank and Dodd collaborated with Kaiser throughout their legislative efforts and allowed their staffs to share every step of the drafting and deal making that produced the 1,500-page law that transformed America's financial sector. Kaiser explains how lobbying affects a bill--or fails to. We follow staff members more influential than most senators and congressmen. We see how Congress members protect their own turf, often without regard for what might best serve the country--more eager to court television cameras than legislate on complicated issues about which many of them remain ignorant. Kaiser shows how ferocious partisanship regularly overwhelms all other considerations, though occasionally individual integrity prevails. Act of Congress, as entertaining as it is enlightening, is an indispensable guide to a vital piece of our political system desperately in need of reform.
An Act Of Courage: (The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 7): A compelling and unputdownable military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson (Matthew Hervey #7)
by Allan MallinsonTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson brings us another compelling and deeply atmospheric adventure featuring Matthew Hervey. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this! "Most impressive...Mallinson reinforces his position as a master of narrative military history" -- THE TIMES"As good on the details of the workings of a cavalry regiment in 1820 as ever Patrick O'Brian was on the workings of an 1820 warship" -- SPECTATOR"What a pleasure...concentrating on the battle of Talavera and the investment of Badajoz, both sparklingly described, he plays to his undoubted strengths" - OBSERVER"The atmosphere and authenticity continues to work its spell all the way through." -- ***** Reader review"Highly enjoyable novel. Great story. Thoroughly recommend for lovers of adventure novels." -- ***** Reader review"A truly outstanding read" -- ***** Reader review *********************************************************Badajoz: Christmas 1826Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons is a prisoner of the Spanish, incarcerated in the infamous fortress of Badajoz.As he plans his escape, his thoughts return to the year 1812 when he was a cornet in Wellington's Peninsular Army. He and the Sixth had survived Corunna to endure three more years of brutal fighting that would culminate in one of the most vital and vicious confrontations of the campaign - the siege of Badajoz.While Hervey paces his prison cell, and re-lives the bloodshed of battles past, friends from unexpected quarters rush to his aid...An Act of Courage is the seventh book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Company of Spears. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair, A Call to Arms, The Sabre's Edge and Rumours of War?
Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations
by Stephen C. SchlesingerIn Act of Creation, Stephen C. Schlesinger tells a pivotal and little-known story of how Secretary of State Edward Stettinius and the new American President, Harry Truman, picked up the pieces of the faltering campaign initiated by Franklin Roosevelt to create a "United Nations. " Using secret agents, financial resources, and their unrivaled position of power, they overcame the intrigues of Stalin, the reservations of wartime allies like Winston Churchill, the discontent of smaller states, and a skeptical press corps to found the United Nations. The author reveals how the UN nearly collapsed several times during the conference over questions of which states should have power, who should be admitted, and how authority should be divided among its branches. By shedding new light on leading participants like John Foster Dulles, John F. Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson, Nelson Rockefeller, and E. B White, Act of Creation provides a fascinating tale of twentieth-century history not to be missed.
Act of Oblivion: A Novel
by Robert HarrisINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERFrom the bestselling author of Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, Munich, and Conclave comes this spellbinding historical novel that brilliantly imagines one of the greatest manhunts in history: the search for two Englishmen, charged in the killing of King Charles I, by the implacable foe on their trail—an epic journey into the wilds of seventeenth-century New England, and a chase like no other."From what is it they run?"He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, &“They killed the King.&”1660. General Edward Whalley and his son-in-law Colonel William Goffe board a ship in London bound for the New World and an uncertain future in exile. They are wanted for the 1649 murder of King Charles I – a brazen execution that marked the culmination of the English Civil War, in which parliamentarians successfully battled royalists for control. But ten years after Charles&’ beheading, the royalists returned to power. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, the fifty-nine men who signed the king&’s death warrant have been found guilty in absentia of high treason. Some parliamentarians, including Oliver Cromwell, are dead; others have been captured, hung, drawn, and quartered. A few are imprisoned for life. But Whalley and Goffe escaped to New England. In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is charged with bringing the traitors back home to justice and will stop at nothing to find them. A substantial bounty hangs over their heads for their capture – dead or alive. Encompassing a period of tremendous upheaval in English history the novel brings alive pivotal moments including the Black Death and the Great Fire of London as Nayler closes in on the exiles. Act of Oblivion is an epic story of religion, vengeance, and of power – and the costs to those who wield it.
Act of Revenge: A Puppet Master Thriller
by Dale Brown Jim DeFeliceWhen terrorists attack Boston, Louis Massina races against time to save the city with a high-tech counteroffensive . . . On Easter Sunday morning, the city of Boston is struck by a widespread and coordinated series of terrorist attacks: an explosion in the T, a suicide bomber at Back Bay Police Station, and heavily armed gunmen taking hostages at the Patriot Hotel. For robotics innovator Louis Massina, aka the Puppet Master, this is far more personal than a savage act of political terrorism. Boston is his city—and one of his employees, Chelsea Goodman, is among the hostages facing certain death. As Chelsea fights from the inside, Massina leads his team of tech geniuses at Smart Metal to deploy every bot, drone, and cyber weapon at their disposal to defeat the fanatics and save his city and friend. That's step one. Step two: Find the twisted mastermind behind the attacks and make him pay.
An Act of State: The Execution Of Martin Luther King
by William F. PepperOn April 4 1968, Martin Luther King was in Memphis supporting a workers’ strike. By nightfall, army snipers were in position, military officers were on a nearby roof with cameras, and Lloyd Jowers had been paid to remove the gun after the fatal shot was fired. When the dust had settled, King had been hit and a clean-up operation was set in motion-James Earl Ray was framed, the crime scene was destroyed, and witnesses were killed. William Pepper, attorney and friend of King, has conducted a thirty-year investigation into his assassination. In 1999, Loyd Jowers and other co-conspirators were brought to trial in a civil action suit on behalf of the King family. Seventy witnesses set out the details of a conspiracy that involved J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, Richard Helms and the CIA, the military, Memphis police, and organized crime. The jury took an hour to find for the King family. In An Act of State, you finally have the truth before you-how the US government shut down a movement for social change by stopping its leader dead in his tracks.
An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King
by William F. PepperMartin Luther King Jr was a powerful and eloquent champion of the poor and oppressed in the US, and at the height of his fame in the mid-sixties seemed to offer the real possibility of a new and radical beginning for liberal politics in the USA. However,in 1968, he was assassinated; the movement for social and economic change has never recovered. The conviction of James Earl Ray for his murder has never looked even remotely safe, and when William Pepper began to investigate the case it was the start of a twenty-five year campaign for justice. At a civil trial in 1999, supported by the King family, seventy witnesses under oath set out the details of the conspiracy Pepper had unearthed: the jury took just one hour to find that Ray was not responsible for the assassination, that a wide-ranging conspiracy existed, and that government agents were involved. An Act of State lays out the extraordinary facts of the King story--of the huge groundswell of optimism engendered by his charismatic radicalism, of how plans for his execution were laid at the very heart of government and the military, of the disinformation and media cover-ups that followed every attempt to search out the truth. As shocking as it is tragic, An Act of State remains the most compelling and authoritative account of how King’s challenge to the US establishment led inexorably to his murder.
Act of Treason: Consent To Kill, Act Of Treason, And Protect And Defend (A Mitch Rapp Novel #9)
by Vince FlynnThe fallout from a horrific Washington explosion has just begun, along with CIA superagent Mitch Rapp&’s hunt for a killer with a personal agenda in this &“fun, finger-blistering page-turner&” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis) in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series.In the final weeks of a fierce presidential campaign, a motorcade carrying candidate Josh Alexander is shattered by a car bomb. Soon after the attack, Alexander is carried to victory by a sympathy vote, but his assailants have not been found. When CIA director Irene Kennedy and Special Agent Skip McMahon receive damaging intelligence on Washington&’s most powerful players, they call on Mitch Rapp—the one man reckless enough to unravel a global network of contract killers on an explosive mission that leads back to the heart of our nation&’s capital…and the inner sanctum of the Oval Office. &“Taut writing and [a] plausible vision of the real work of the intelligence community&” (Publishers Weekly) make Act of Treason an unputdownable and heart-pounding thriller.
The Act of Voting: Identities, Institutions and Locale
by Johan A. Elkink and David M. FarrellElectoral behaviour is one of the most dynamic areas of study in the field of comparative politics today. A strongly emerging theme in recent years has been the need to set the study of voting behaviour in its wider context, that is to understand how the behaviour of the individual (non)voter is conditioned by the environment in which the election is occurring. The main motivation for this book is to respond to this need. The Act of Voting examines voting – both the question of whether to vote (ie. electoral turnout) and who to vote for – in context from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. In addition to other topics and themes, chapters explore the national or social identities of individuals and how these contribute to complex social dynamics, discuss the institutions that determine who is able to vote and over what, and analyse the impact of the locale on the voting act. Offering chapters by up-and-coming scholars in the field of electoral behaviour, as well as reflections on how the act of voting should be viewed in the broadest context – normatively, institutionally and socially, this book will be of interest to students and scholars researching political behaviour, public opinion and politics more generally.
Act of War: A Thriller (The Scot Harvath Series #13)
by Brad ThorThe #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor delivers his most frightening and pulse-pounding thriller ever!After a CIA agent mysteriously dies overseas, his top asset surfaces with a startling and terrifying claim. There&’s just one problem—no one knows if she can be trusted. But when six exchange students go missing, two airplane passengers trade places, and one political-asylum seeker is arrested, a deadly chain of events is set in motion. With the United States facing an imminent and devastating attack, America&’s new president must turn to covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath to help carry out two of the most dangerous operations in the country&’s history. Code-named &“Gold Dust&” and &“Blackbird,&” they are shrouded in absolute secrecy as either of them, if discovered, will constitute an act of war.
Acting Like a State: Kosovo and the Everyday Making of Statehood (Interventions)
by Gëzim VisokaHow do emerging states obtain international recognition and secure membership of international organisations in contemporary world politics? This book provides the first in-depth study of Kosovo’s diplomatic approach to becoming a sovereign state by obtaining international recognition and securing membership of international organisations. Analysing the everyday diplomatic discourses, performances, and entanglements, this book contends that state-becoming is not wholly determined by systemic factors, normative institutions, or the preferences of great powers; the diplomatic agency of the fledgling state plays a far more important role than is generally acknowledged. Drawing on institutional ethnographic research and first-hand observations, this book argues that Kosovo’s diplomatic success in consolidating its sovereign statehood has been the situational assemblage of multiple discourses, practiced through a broad variety of performative actions, and shaped by a complex entanglement with global assemblages of norms, actors, relations, and events. Accordingly, this book contributes to expanding our understanding of the everyday diplomatic agency of emerging states and the changing norms, politics, and practices regarding the diplomatic recognition of states and their admission to international society.
Acting Locally: Local Environmental Mobilizations and Campaigns (Environmental Politics)
by Christopher RootesLocal campaigns are the most persistent and ubiquitous forms of environmental contention. National and transnational mobilisations come and go and the attention they receive from mass media ebbs and flows, but local campaigns persist. The persistence or re-emergence of local campaigns is also a reminder that it remain possible to mobilise people around environmental issues, and they have often served as sources of innovation in and re-invigoration of national organisations that have allegedly been co-opted by the powerful and incorporated into the established political and administrative system. But local environmental campaigns have been relatively neglected in the scientific literature. Drawing on examples from Britain, France, Greece, Ireland and Italy, this book seeks to redress that neglect by examining the networks among actors and organisations that connect local mobilizations to the larger environmental movement and political systems, the ways in which local disputes are framed in order to connect with national and global issues, and the persistent impacts of the peculiarities of place upon environmental campaigns. This book was previously published as a special issue of Environmental Politics
Acting on Cultural Policy: Arts Practitioners, Policy-Making and Civil Society (New Directions in Cultural Policy Research)
by Jane WoddisThis book investigates the role of arts practitioners in cultural policy-making, challenging the perception that arts practitioners have little or no involvement in policy and seeking to discover the extent and form of their engagement. Examining the subject through a case-study of playwriting policy in England since 1945, and paying particular attention to playwrights’ organisations and their history of self-directed activity, the book explores practitioners’ participation in cultural policy-making, encompassing both “invited” and “uninvited” interventions that also weave together policy activity and creative practice. It discusses why their involvement matters, and argues that arts practitioners and their organisations can be understood as participants in civil society whose policy activity contributes to the maintenance and enlargement of democratic practices and values.
Acting Together I: Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence
by Cynthia Cohen Roberto Gutiérrez Varea Polly O. Walker Dijana Milosevic Charles MulekwaActing Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict is a two-volume work describing peacebuilding performances in regions beset by violence and internal conflicts. Volume I, Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence, emphasizes the role theatre and ritual play both in the midst and in the aftermath of direct violence, while Volume II, Building Just and Inclusive Communities, focuses on the transformative power of performance in regions fractured by "subtler" forms of structural violence and social exclusion. Volume I: Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence focuses on the role theatre and ritual play both in the midst and in the aftermath of violence. The performances highlighted in this volume nourish and restore capacities for expression, communication, and transformative action, and creatively support communities in grappling with conflicting moral imperatives surrounding questions of justice, memory, resistance, and identity. The individual chapters, written by scholars, conflict resolution practitioners, and artists who work directly with the communities involved, offer vivid firsthand accounts and analyses of traditional and nontraditional performances in Serbia, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Palestine, Israel, Argentina, Peru, India, Cambodia, Australia, and the United States. Complemented by a website of related materials, a documentary film, Acting Together on the World Stage, that features clips and interviews with the curators and artists, and a toolkit, or "Tools for Continuing the Conversation," that is included with the documentary as a second disc, this book will inform and inspire socially engaged artists, cultural workers, peacebuilding scholars and practitioners, human rights activists, students of peace and justice studies, and whoever wishes to better understand conflict and the power of art to bring about social change. The Acting Together project is born of a collaboration between Theatre Without Borders and the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts at the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life at Brandeis University. The two volumes are edited by Cynthia E. Cohen, director of the aforementioned program and a leading figure in creative approaches to coexistence and reconciliation; Roberto Guti_rrez Varea, an award-winning director and associate professor at the University of San Francisco; and Polly O. Walker, director of Partners in Peace, an NGO based in Brisbane, Australia..