New & Forthcoming Titles from the Brookings Institution Press

New Publications

Competition and Chaos
U.S. Telecommunications since the 1996 Telecom Act
Robert W. Crandall
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 212pp.
Paper Text, 0-8157-1617-6, $32.95

Book Description
In Competition and Chaos, Robert W. Crandall analyzes the impact of the 1996 act on economic welfare in the United States. He also examines how the act and its antecedents have affected the major telecommunications providers, some of whom are now a threatened species, caught in a downward spiral of declining prices and substantial losses. In the wake of the 2001-02 telecom stock market collapse, the industry is preparing for an intense battle for market share among three sets of surviving carriers: the wireless companies, the local (largely Bell) telephone companies, and the major cable television operators. None is assured a clear path to dominance in the drive to attract customers to an expanding array of voice, data and audio services. Although the telecom stock market collapse is now history and the survivors are investing once again, Crandall concludes that regulators failed to adapt to the chaos to which they contributed until the courts forced them to do so.

Peace Process
American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict since 1967 - Third edition
William B. Quandt
Brookings Institution Press and the University of California Press 2005
c. 535pp.
Paper Text, 0-520-24631-4, $24.95

Book Description
In this timely new edition of Peace Process, William B. Quandt analyzes how each U.S. president since Lyndon Johnson has dealt with the complex challenge of brokering peace in the Middle East, from the 1967 Arab-Israeli war to the death of Yasir Arafat. This classic work has now been updated to reflect recently declassified U.S. government documents and other published materials relating to the Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton presidencies, and to carry the story through George W. Bush’s first term.

The most comprehensive account of the Middle East peace process in print, the book places the current situation in historical context and point to possible ways out of the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians. The text is complemented by extensive online appendixes containing significant treaties, resolutions, and speeches.

Beyond Jihad and Crusade
A New Framework for U.S. Policy in the Islamic World
M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 224pp.
Trade Cloth, 0-8157-4924-4, $27.95

Book Description
Beyond Jihad and Crusade explores the roots of anti-Americanism and political violence in the Islamic world and the role of moderate Muslims struggling against extremism to promote Islamic democracy and a liberal understanding of Islam. Khan examines the critical role of American Muslims as a bridge between the United States and the Islamic world. He brings insights into the current contested nature of Islamic identity, the turmoil within the Muslim world, and the contentious nature of the relationship between Islam and the Western world, helping to construct a new framework for U.S. foreign policy.

This is a ground-breaking and ultimately hopeful book, offering a fundamentally different perspective from current thinking on relations between the United States and the Muslim world. Unlike the wave of post-9/11 books that find fault with Islam, with radical Islam, or with American foreign policy, Beyond Jihad and Crusade offers a balanced perspective that holds the interaction of U.S. foreign policy and the rise of radical Islam responsible for the events of September 11 and their aftermath.

Forthcoming Titles

The Market for Virtue
The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility
David Vogel
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 200pp.
Cloth Text, 0-8157-9076-7, $28.95

Book Description
In this book, David Vogel provides the first comprehensive, in-depth review of the contemporary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement in both the United States and Europe. He presents a careful and balanced appraisal of the movement’s accomplishments and limitations, including a critical evaluation of the business case for CSR. While acknowledging the movement’s achievements, most notably in improving some labor, human rights, and environmental conditions in developing countries, he also demonstrates that CSR’s potential to bring about a significant change in corporate behavior is exaggerated.

The Market for Virtue explores to what extent future improvements in corporate conduct can occur without more extensive or effective government regulation—in the United States, Europe, the Far East, and in the developing countries. In other words, what is the long-term potential of business self-regulation? Vogel concludes that the amount of improvement that can be expected is far more modest than much contemporary writing on corporate responsibility has claimed. There is a market for virtue, but it is limited by the substantial costs of more responsible business behavior.

Math You Can't Use
Patents, Copyright, and Software
Ben Klemens
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 150pp.
Cloth Text, 0-8157-4942-2, $28.95

Book Description
This lively and innovative book is about computer code and the legal controls and restrictions on those who write it.

This is the first book to confront these problems with serious policy solutions. It is sure to become the standard reference for software developers, those concerned with intellectual property issues, and for policymakers seeking direction. It is critical that public policy on these issues facilitates progress rather than hindering it. There is too much at stake.