Arturo Santa-Cruz - Böcker

At the turn of the millennium, Mexico seemed to have finally found its path to political and economic modernization; a state which had been deeply embedded in society was being pulled out, with new political leaders allowing market forces to play a greater role in guiding the nation’s economic development, and allowing old patron-client networks to crumble. At the same time, many hoped that political and legal reforms would increase the state’s capacity to provide prosperity, security, and equity for its citizens. In the midst of this historic transformation, however, Mexico was confronted with an urgent new policy challenge.Internationally recognized experts from the academic and think-tank communities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada consider the origins of the current crisis in Mexico, and the nature and effectiveness of the Calderón government’s response. Simply not another book on North American regional security, this volume uses Joel Migdal’s concept of "the state in society" to provide a refreshingly clear and accessible exploration of political change in the developing world. The engagement with the US and Canada gives the reader a chance to observe the dynamics of persuasion across the developmental divide. Four key questions structure the study: What does the ongoing security crisis in Mexico tell us about the changing role of the state in society there? What does the changing role of the state tell us about the nature (and intractability) of the crisis? How has the transition to democracy affected the links between the state and organized crime in Mexico, and the state’s capacity to contain non-state challengers? What kinds of political and legal reforms are called for, and what effects can we expect them to have on the extent and intensity of violence in Mexico?No other study comprehensively uncovers new conceptual and theoretical insights in each of these areas whilst offering some practical guidance for policy-makers and publics seeking to understand these urgent and complex challenges.

This book traces the process by which national elections became international events or, more precisely, what the effects of this process are on state sovereignty. Contrary to the conventional wisdom in International Relations - to judge by the neglect of this phenomenon in the literature - this book argues that the study of IEM does not belong only in the field of comparative politics. As a system-wide phenomenon, IEM should not be restricted to the study of purely domestic politics or of foreign policy. This book contends that sovereignty has been partially transformed by the recent emergence of IEM. Furthermore, the author locates the origins of this change in the Americas, claiming that the western hemisphere's normative structure - what Santa-Cruz calls the Western Hemisphere Idea (WHI) - was particularly conducive to this new understanding of state sovereignty. This is the first work to engage the issue of IEM in a comprehensive manner from a theoretical perspective. International Election Monitoring, Sovereignty, and the Western Hemisphere covers a broad and relevant scholarly literature, and the cases comparisons widen the book's appeal, since they illustrate a useful range of experience.

Sovereignty is a key factor to consider when studying the Mexico-United States relationship. During most of the twentieth century, as a result of the new character of the Mexican post-revolutionary regime, there was a decoupling between the state’s maximalist discourse on sovereignty, and its practice. Sovereignty as an undifferentiated whole does not exist; it should instead be disaggregated into the myriad issue areas in which it is constantly negotiated. Focusing on a tripartite classification relating to the construction of Mexico’s sovereignty towards its northern neighbor since 1920, this volume illustrates how Mexico’s sovereignty has varied not only according to the times, but also according to the issues at stake. In doing so, Arturo Santa-Cruz comprehensively covers a variety of issues in the bilateral agenda such as drug trafficking, electoral observation, human rights, investment, migration, security, and trade, as well as some defining moments in the relationship, such as the 1923 US granting of recognition to the Mexican post-revolutionary regime, the 1938 oil nationalization, the 1982 debt crisis, and the 1995 financial bailout. These diverse cases, analyzed through an original analytical approach, capture sovereignty’s multifocal meaning.

This book traces the process by which national elections became international events or, more precisely, what the effects of this process are on state sovereignty. Contrary to the conventional wisdom in International Relations - to judge by the neglect of this phenomenon in the literature - this book argues that the study of IEM does not belong only in the field of comparative politics. As a system-wide phenomenon, IEM should not be restricted to the study of purely domestic politics or of foreign policy. This book contends that sovereignty has been partially transformed by the recent emergence of IEM. Furthermore, the author locates the origins of this change in the Americas, claiming that the western hemisphere's normative structure - what Santa-Cruz calls the Western Hemisphere Idea (WHI) - was particularly conducive to this new understanding of state sovereignty. This is the first work to engage the issue of IEM in a comprehensive manner from a theoretical perspective. International Election Monitoring, Sovereignty, and the Western Hemisphere covers a broad and relevant scholarly literature, and the cases comparisons widen the book's appeal, since they illustrate a useful range of experience.

In this book, Arturo Santa-Cruz advances an understanding of power as a social relationship and applies it consistently to the economic realm in United States relations with other countries of the Western Hemisphere. Following the academic and popular debate on the ebb and flow of US hegemony, this work centers the analysis in a critical case for the exercise of US power through its economic statecraft: the Americas—its historical zone of influence. The rationale for the regional focus is methodological: if it can be shown that Washington's sway has decreased in the area since the early 1970s, when the discussion about this matter started, it can be safely assumed that the same has occurred in other latitudes. The analysis focuses on three regions: North America, Central America and South America. Since each region contains countries that have at times maintained very different relationships with the United States, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the practice of US power in the sub-region in question, adding greater variability to the overall results.US Hegemony and the Americas: Power and Economic Statecraft in International Relations is an invaluable resource for students and scholars interested in Latin American History and Politics, North American Regional Integration, International Relations, Economic Statecraft, Political Economy and Comparative Politics.

In this book, Arturo Santa-Cruz advances an understanding of power as a social relationship and applies it consistently to the economic realm in United States relations with other countries of the Western Hemisphere. Following the academic and popular debate on the ebb and flow of US hegemony, this work centers the analysis in a critical case for the exercise of US power through its economic statecraft: the Americas—its historical zone of influence. The rationale for the regional focus is methodological: if it can be shown that Washington's sway has decreased in the area since the early 1970s, when the discussion about this matter started, it can be safely assumed that the same has occurred in other latitudes. The analysis focuses on three regions: North America, Central America and South America. Since each region contains countries that have at times maintained very different relationships with the United States, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the practice of US power in the sub-region in question, adding greater variability to the overall results.US Hegemony and the Americas: Power and Economic Statecraft in International Relations is an invaluable resource for students and scholars interested in Latin American History and Politics, North American Regional Integration, International Relations, Economic Statecraft, Political Economy and Comparative Politics.

Sovereignty is a key factor to consider when studying the Mexico-United States relationship. During most of the twentieth century, as a result of the new character of the Mexican post-revolutionary regime, there was a decoupling between the state’s maximalist discourse on sovereignty, and its practice. Sovereignty as an undifferentiated whole does not exist; it should instead be disaggregated into the myriad issue areas in which it is constantly negotiated. Focusing on a tripartite classification relating to the construction of Mexico’s sovereignty towards its northern neighbor since 1920, this volume illustrates how Mexico’s sovereignty has varied not only according to the times, but also according to the issues at stake. In doing so, Arturo Santa-Cruz comprehensively covers a variety of issues in the bilateral agenda such as drug trafficking, electoral observation, human rights, investment, migration, security, and trade, as well as some defining moments in the relationship, such as the 1923 US granting of recognition to the Mexican post-revolutionary regime, the 1938 oil nationalization, the 1982 debt crisis, and the 1995 financial bailout. These diverse cases, analyzed through an original analytical approach, capture sovereignty’s multifocal meaning.

At the turn of the millennium, Mexico seemed to have finally found its path to political and economic modernization; a state which had been deeply embedded in society was being pulled out, with new political leaders allowing market forces to play a greater role in guiding the nation’s economic development, and allowing old patron-client networks to crumble. At the same time, many hoped that political and legal reforms would increase the state’s capacity to provide prosperity, security, and equity for its citizens. In the midst of this historic transformation, however, Mexico was confronted with an urgent new policy challenge.Internationally recognized experts from the academic and think-tank communities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada consider the origins of the current crisis in Mexico, and the nature and effectiveness of the Calderón government’s response. Simply not another book on North American regional security, this volume uses Joel Migdal’s concept of "the state in society" to provide a refreshingly clear and accessible exploration of political change in the developing world. The engagement with the US and Canada gives the reader a chance to observe the dynamics of persuasion across the developmental divide. Four key questions structure the study: What does the ongoing security crisis in Mexico tell us about the changing role of the state in society there? What does the changing role of the state tell us about the nature (and intractability) of the crisis? How has the transition to democracy affected the links between the state and organized crime in Mexico, and the state’s capacity to contain non-state challengers? What kinds of political and legal reforms are called for, and what effects can we expect them to have on the extent and intensity of violence in Mexico?No other study comprehensively uncovers new conceptual and theoretical insights in each of these areas whilst offering some practical guidance for policy-makers and publics seeking to understand these urgent and complex challenges.