Suchergebnisse

Cover -- Half-title -- Title page -- Copyright information -- Dedication -- Table of contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations -- Introduction: once upon a time … -- Discourse analysis and the narrative turn -- Political elite, media narratives and the role of culture -- Structure of the book -- 1 Narrative analysis as an approach in IR -- The concept of narrative and a story of its travel -- Literary studies and narratology -- Narrative psychology and cognitive narratology -- Historical narratives -- Narrative analysis and constructivism in IR -- The construction of social reality and the notion of setting -- The constitution of identity and characterization -- The co-constitution of agent and structure and the role of emplotment -- Practical application of narrative analysis -- The consequences of and reasons for narratives -- Narrative consequences and the question of causality -- Reasons for narrative dominance and marginalization -- Romantic narratives -- Romantic settings -- Romantic characterization -- Romantic emplotment -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 2 German narratives of the pirate in Somalia -- Romantic narratives of the pirate -- Historical romantic stories of the pirate -- The literary pirate -- The popular pirate -- German media narratives on piracy -- Setting -- Characterization -- Emplotment -- An alternative story: linking piracy and terrorism -- Similarities between piracy and terrorism -- Cooperation between pirates and terrorists -- The use of pirate tactics by terrorists -- Political piracy -- The marginalization of the 'terror-pirate' story -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 3 British narratives of the rebel in Libya -- Rebellion, revolution and romance -- The romantic Arab rebel? -- British media narratives on rebellion in Libya -- Setting -- Characterization -- Emplotment

"In the aftermath of WWII, the victorious Allies vowed to hunt Nazi war criminals "to the ends of the earth." Yet many slipped away to the four corners of the world or were shielded by the Western Allies in exchange for cooperation. Most prominently, Reinhard Gehlen, the founder of West Germany's foreign intelligence service, welcomed SS operatives into the fold. This shortsighted decision nearly brought his cherished service down, as the KGB found his Nazi operatives easy to turn, while judiciously exposing them to threaten the very legitimacy of the Bonn Government. However, Gehlen was hardly alone in the excessive importance he placed on the supposed capabilities of former Nazi agents; his American sponsors did much the same in the early years of the Cold War. Other Nazi fugitives became freelance arms traffickers, spies, and covert operators, playing a crucial role in the clandestine struggle between the superpowers. From posh German restaurants, smuggler-infested Yugoslav ports, Damascene safehouses, Egyptian country clubs, and fascist holdouts in Franco's Spain, Nazi spies created a chaotic network of influence and information. This network was tapped by both America and the USSR, as well as by the West German, French, and Israeli secret services. Indeed, just as Gehlen and his U.S sponsors attached excessive importance to Nazi agents, so too did almost all other state and non-state actors, adding a combustible ingredient to the Cold War covert struggle. Shrouded in government secrecy, clouded by myths and propaganda, the tangled and often paradoxical tale of these Nazi fugitives and operatives has never been properly told--until now."--Amazon.com

The 14th century was the high-point of German mercenary activity in the service of Italian princes and cities. For the first time in 60 years, this study addresses the multifarious implications of this intriguing subject. On the basis of newly discovered sources, it analyzes the general parameters defining international mercenary service in 14th century Italy and describes the life-situations of German mercenaries in war and peacetime. Inquiry into the motives of the mercenaries extends the purview to their geographical origins north of the Alps.