Stephen Chan

The Lived International is a poetic account of Stephen Chan’s personal engagement in International Relations. It speaks to the inadequacy of an abstract voyeurism while the problems of the world are death, devastation and underdevelopment. Drawn from a lifetime of travel and engagement, and from both published and hitherto unpublished poetry, forming a parallel list to the author’s academic works, the book seeks to inject into debate the sense that language, spoken and written discourse alone, are not a sufficient claim to ‘bearing witness’, and that even activism from afar can often fail to understand a human condition that afflicts the majority of the world’s population. Chan demonstrates that a life of praxis, living international relations, yields more insights than a life of theory alone.

A Life in International Relations

The Lived International

With the seeming defeat of ISIS, has jihadism disappeared from world politics? In this startling new book, Stephen Chan uncovers the ideological foundations that allow ISIS and other jihadi groups to survive, as they propagate terror by sophisticated means online and continue thrusting their spear at the West. Far from presenting simple-minded, black-clad fighters, Chan describes an elaborate process of online recruitment, which is, in its own terrible way, meaningful and thoughtful. He examines the foundations of this thought and the step-by-step methods of jihadi indoctrination, exposing the lack of IT knowledge among Western world leaders and urging the 'moderate' Islamic community in the West to challenge jihadi ideology with a courageous, non-violent ideology of its own. Without a counter-ideology, Chan argues, alienated Muslim youth are drawn not only to glamorized dreams of violence, but also to the pull of a totalizing system of politics and theology. Spear to the West picks apart the fallacy of 'thoughtless' jihadi carnage, arguing that--dangerous and gruesome as it might be--there is more thought behind this phenomenon of destruction than meets the eye.

Thought and Recruitment in Violent Jihadism

Spear to the West

African liberation is often seen in terms of heroism, but seldom in terms of thought. Even Sartre, in his preface to Frantz Fanon’s seminal The Wretched of the Earth, wrote of the ‘native’ with his coiled muscles about to explode into rebellion. The African and the black person are denied the condition of philosophy, apparently driven only by frustration and anger. Stephen Chan’s new book charts the long history of African political thought, from the years of North American slavery, through the development of modern African nationalism and the difficulties of governing new states, to Africa’s political philosophy today, taking on the world as an equal. He dwells at length on major figures from Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah’s postcolonial generation to Biko, Mandela and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He shows their leadership to be inseparable from their ideas, and from those of literary giants including Fanon, W.E.B. Du Bois and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. This is no hagiography: Chan critically examines his thinkers, who also include Mugabe and Mobutu, and expresses concern for the future of Pan-Africanism. But his fascinating account reveals a thoughtful continent that has made complex, significant contributions to the world’s intellectual commons–yet continues to seek freedom.

An Intellectual History of the Quest for Freedom

African Political Thought

Saralees Nadarajah

Jeffrey Chu

Yuanyuan Zhang

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies have recently captured the interest of academics and those in industry. Cryptocurrencies are essentially digital currencies that use blockchain technology and cryptography to facilitate secure and anonymous transactions. The cryptocurrency market is currently worth over $500 billion. Many institutions and countries are starting to understand and implement the idea of cryptocurrencies in their business models. This Special Issue will provide a collection of papers from leading experts in the area of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The topics covered in this Special Issue will include but are not limited to the following: academic research on blockchain and cryptocurrencies; industrial applications of blockchain and cryptocurrencies; applications of fintech in academia and industry; the economics of blockchain technology, and the financial analysis and risk management with cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

Ranka Primorac

This book covers not only the political situation in Zimbabwe, but its international context and those areas of privation, exclusion and silence within the country that are beneath the everyday face of politics. Written by either a Zimbabwean or an internationally acknowledged expert on aspects of Zimbabwe, all the authors agree that the silences in and surrounding the African state cannot continue. This volume utilizes the perspectives of diplomacy, health, law and literature written in both English and Shona, and of those deeply concerned with democratization in Zimbabwe and its surrounding region. Zimbabwe and the Space of Silence will be of interest to students and scholars of African studies, African and Third World politics and international law. This book was previously published as a special issue of The Round Table.

The International Response and the Space of Silence

Zimbabwe in Crisis

Africa is huge, internationally vital, potentially rich and powerful yet mired in failure - political, economic, social and even cultural. Yet the story of contemporary Africa is not just one of global tragedy but also of enormous hope for the future. This stimulating and unconventional book on Africa today and its relationship with the West explores the many complex reasons behind Africa's failure to fulfil its potential - it is a continent blighted by colonialism, exploitation and the interference of great powers in the international relations of the region - and offers some genuinely original and well-argued suggestions for ways forward. Critical and objective yet involved and sympathetic, "Grasping Africa" demonstrates Stephen Chan's deep understanding of the history and politics of Africa based on his long experience of the continent in often dangerous circumstances.

A Tale of Tragedy and Achievement

Grasping Africa

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Extreme Values and Financial Risk" that was published in JRFM

Stephen Chan

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