Is there hope for Uncle Sam?

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Tony Smith

The strength and prestige of democracy worldwide at the end of the twentieth century are due in good measure to the impact of America on international affairs, argues Tony Smith. Here for the first time is a book that documents the extraordinary history of American foreign policy with respect to the promotion of democracy worldwide, an effort whose greatest triumph came in the occupations of Japan and Germany but whose setbacks include interventions in Latin America and Vietnam. As Americans ponder the challenges of world affairs at the end of the Cold War, Smith suggests that they think back to other times when Washington's decisions were critical: not only to the end of the World Wars in 1918 and 1945, but to the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the Civil War in 1865 as well. They will find that in the aftermath of victory, Washington determined to win the peace by promoting a concept of national security calling ultimately for democratic government in Europe, Latin America, and the Far East. So the Congress set out to "reconstruct" the South in 1867; America aimed to democratize the Philippines in 1898; Wilson sought to "make the world safe for democracy," first in Latin America and then, after 1918, in Central and Eastern Europe; FDR and Truman dictated the democratization of Japan and Germany and called for democracy in Eastern Europe after 1945; Kennedy promoted the Alliance for Progress in Latin America; Carter launched his human rights campaign; Reagan (the most Wilsonian of Wilson's successors) heralded an international "democratic revolution"; Bush called for a "new world order"; and Clinton declared that "our overriding purpose must be to expand and strengthen the world's community of market-based democracies.". Through a study of selected countries - most notably Germany, Japan, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Iran, and Nicaragua (but also Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Greece, South Africa, and Russia) - Smith reviews the American record both in local terms and with respect to its impact on world politics. Smith's story is at once that of the central thrust of American foreign policy in the twentieth century, and that of the central international political struggle of the period among nationalists wedded to rival ideologies of fascism, communism, and democracy, each striving to dominate world affairs. Now that this struggle appears to be over, the question is whether democracy can consolidate its position as the sole legitimate form of government worldwide, so creating a common form of government to express the nationalist sentiments that continue to be the hallmark of this century.

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Jomo K.S

"One of two self-contained companion volumes, this unusual collection surveys the transformation of the major regions of the South, during the course of the 'long twentieth century'. Individual essays examine the transformation of particular regions of the South, highlighting not only the uneven development in the region, but also the unequal relations between North and South, often, but not necessarily, associated with political dimensions during the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the present."--BOOK JACKET.

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Arthur Stam

"The New Order was the term the Japanese, German and Italian governments used for their expansive strategies and spheres of influence during the eve and course of the Second World War. Their attack against the status quo was initiated by Japan occupying Mandchuria, preceding Hitler's rise to power. Subsequently Italian agression against Ethiopia shows that the first military adventures of the emerging New Order occurred outside Europe. A main issue in this account is the lack of coordination between the German and Japanese approaches towards the USSR. Consequently the Anti-Komintern-Pact, an overwhelmingly ideological cover-up, implied meagre strategic significance. The Tripartite Treaty, on the contrary, provided Germany with some East European allies in its warfare against the USSR. In contrast to Germany and Japan the Italian military performance was in all the stages of the second World War so poor, that Mussolini's Fascism was downgraded to a humiliating position within the New Order. The author concludes that the common strategy came to naught on different interests and mentalities. Fascist "internationalism" proved to be a sheer impossibility."--BOOK JACKET.

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Robert Goldston

Details world politics from the armistice ending World War I to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.