smaj publishing house

SEA POWER, TRIBUTE AND TRADE In 1368 the Ming replaced the Yuan dynasty, thereby returning China to Han Chinese rule. The new dynasty was very conscious of the need to expunge all barbarian influence, which it undertook to do in time-honoured Chinese fashion by seeking precedents in the past. Texts were combed, especially from the former great Chinese dynasties of the Han and Tang, in order to determine the proper way of conduct, in government and in foreign relations. What resulted was a systematic restructuring of institutions based on traditions dating back to the Zhou dynasty (and projected back even further to legendary times), administered by a bureaucracy trained in neo-Confucian orthodoxy. Scholar officials determined the elaborate formalities of state ceremonies whose purpose was to reassert the supremacy of the Son of Heaven and the Chinese world order. All aspects of foreign relations—exchange of envoys, the reception of diplomatic missions, regulation of trade, e

Yunus presents his ideas for solving the world’s social problems as he outlines how Bangladesh can develop more successfully; updates the history of the Grameen Bank, for which most readers will know him; offers his thoughts on the potential of technology to help end poverty; and details his ideas on international norms and governance. But his main tool for alleviating the world’s ills is social business, which he defines as financially sustainable but non-dividend- paying enterprises established to solve social and environmental problems. These enterprises are controlled by shareholders (either donors or the poor), and donors get their initial investment back, though any additional profits created by the enterprise are plowed back into the work. To illustrate his idea of a social business, Yunus weaves through the book the fascinating case study of Grameen Danone, a joint venture between Grameen and the French multinational food product company Danone. Yunus sees many sources