https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/135090 Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:58:56 GMT 2026-04-09T13:58:56Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134949 Title: Book review : Jamaica’s foreign policy : 1962-2022 Authors: Byron-Reid, Jessica Abstract: Jamaica’s foreign policy 1962-2022 is a wide-ranging text, ambitious in scope and coverage of themes. The authors aim to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the historical evolution of Jamaica’s foreign policy, its international and domestic legal sources, and its political, socio-cultural, and economic dimensions during the first 60 years of the country’s independence. In terms of timespan and thematic coverage, it could qualify as the most comprehensive study of Jamaica’s foreign relations and diplomacy to date. The scope and length are such that it would have benefited from being divided into two volumes. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134949 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134946 Title: Book review : Higher education in small islands : challenging the geographies of centrality and remoteness Authors: Hayward, Philip Abstract: Higher education in small islands raises important issues for island communities and allows for reflection on the usefulness of universities to the communities they ostensibly serve. Baldacchino’s foreword and the editors’ introduction set out a range of key issues concerning recruitment practices and the nature of resultant student cohorts, the quality and/or local relevance of courses offered, and issues of international recognition, rankings and recruitment. The latter are significant. The issue of whether it is preferable to choose the best applicants from a global talent pool – or, rather, the range of foreign applicants who are willing to consider positions in universities far from home and somewhat tangential to more conventional career choices – or else lean towards homegrown talents is crucial to the character of island universities. At its worst, recruiting heavily from overseas can lead to a reproduction of former colonial systems or else, a bland internationalism with minimal local address. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134946 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134942 Title: Book review : Planet aqua : rethinking our home in the universe Authors: Baldacchino, Godfrey Abstract: My first reaction upon starting to read Jeremy Rifkin’s (2024) new book, Planet Aqua, was that its ‘big picture’ arguments have no bearing or relevance to small (mainly island) states and territories. Nothing less than the future of the planet is at stake. The text is strewn with references to large civilisations – deemed ‘hydraulic’, because of how they mastered and controlled water resources – and large problems surely call for large solutions. And yet, upon second thought, I remembered how small jurisdictions may have been pioneers of water catastrophe – whether via flood or drought, hurricane, or tsunami – and would therefore have had long years to ponder and plan for how to deal with the climate threat. With that thought, reading Rifkin assumed a new urgency and interest. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134942 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134939 Title: Book review : Reframing the buffer state in contemporary international relations : Nepal’s relations with India and China Authors: Rana, Ashmita Abstract: The challenges for a small state manoeuvring its way amidst the realpolitik of international relations amplify exponentially if geography is cruel to it. Buffer states, smaller states sandwiched between two more powerful contesting states, are perhaps the most vulnerable to the cruelties of their geographical disposition. Chand’s book – Reframing the buffer state in contemporary international relations: Nepal’s relations with India and China – is a timely contribution that addresses the limited theoretical attention to buffer states, and which seeks to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for understanding them. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/134939 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z