Thomas Ertl Book order

Russia's repeated defiance of international law with its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, amounts to a shift in political and economic relations. On the one hand, the book deals with the historical antecedents of the transitions from Gorbachev to Yeltsin to Putin. On the other hand, it looks at the role of the Western US-led industrialized nations in this process. How have these nations reacted and conducted themselves since the invasion of Ukraine? In particular, Switzerland and the United Kingdom share a history in pandering to Russian interests. The situation is now different to the transformation era of the USSR. Hyperglobalization since the turn of the millennium has given rise to a new bloc beyond NATO, the IMF and the World Bank. With the BRICS countries under China's dominance, more than 40 % of the world's population belong to states in opposition to the traditional industrial nations. Additionally, many relevant raw materials for energy and inputs for new technologies are located in this sphere. The book provides insight into the complex dependencies of the new blocs, which themselves are not free of discrepancies. China is in a dilemma as one of Russia's energy customers and a producer for Western markets; thus, its role is particularly salient. China's „New Silk Road“ initiative hinges on world trade, which could collapse with potential bloc-building towards the „Iron Curtain.“ The war in Ukraine can only be interpreted in relation to Putin's and his henchmen's motives. There will only be losers, and Russia will suffer the heaviest losses along with Ukraine. In the medium to long term, Russia will be eliminated as a partner for the energy supply of the industrial nations. The global loss of prosperity through inflation and military spending is the price of energy independence. The book shows that these tendencies were already visible before February 24, 2022.

Inventories are among the oldest documents to survive from ancient times. Textiles take an important place within them and inform – among other things – about value, context of use, material, fashion, trade or techniques. This is all the more relevant, as textiles were then the most important trade goods after bullion and food. The articles of this volume focus on the time between the High Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. They represent different approaches to this fascinating topic whose social framework includes popes, kings, merchants and farmers.

Of late, historians have been realising that South Asia and Europe have more in common than a particular strand in the historiography on „the rise of the West“ would have us believe. In both world regions a plurality of languages, religions, and types of belonging by birth was in premodern times matched by a plurality of legal systems and practices. This volume describes case-by-case the points where law and social diversity intersected.