Howard J. Wiarda is one of the leading global scholars of international relations, comparative politics, and foreign policy, and the author/editor of more than sixty books. Now in this highly personal and swashbuckling account, Professor Wiarda tells the stories that lie behind the research: his adventures in Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and South Africa.Complementing his academic work, these four volumes are filled with impressions, research findings, gossip, and preliminary ideas and concepts-the true "stuff" of how scholarly books get written. For Wiarda has had a remarkable life: teaching in some of the nation's leading universities, academic policy work in the State and Defense Departments, and denizen of Washington think tanks. He has also lived abroad for extensive periods and traveled widely in some of the world's most troubled and exciting places. These books tell the story of his "adventures in research". Volume IV provides an account of the countries and regions-Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Russia-that Wiarda has revisited again and again, and their remarkable development over the decades. Hence the title, "Return Visits".