Rene De La Pedraja – författare

A foremost authority has written the first comprehensive reference about the U.S. Merchant Marine and American shipping from the introduction of steamships to today's diesel containerships--showing the impact of politics, economics, and technology on maritime history during the last two centuries. Over 500 entries describe people, private companies, business and labor groups, engineering and technological developments, government agencies, terms, key laws, landmark cases, issues, events, and ships of note. Short lists of references for further reading accompany these entries. Appendices include a chronology, diagrams of government organizations, and lists of business and labor groups by founding dates. An unusually extensive index lends itself to the varying research interests of students, teachers, and professionals in maritime and economic history, business-labor-government relations, and military studies.

Latin Americans as sailors? This remark caused laughter among 19th-century foreign observers, particularly British observers. Yet, Latin Americans did struggle to create important merchant fleets, an effort largely ignored outside the region. This book rescues Latin American shipping from oblivion. In a chronological narrative, it presents the most important events in the emergence of Latin American shipping. While focusing on the shipping companies, the book also roams widely into governmental policy, foreign relations, and naval affairs.Divided into two parts, the book opens with a brief summary of the age of sailing ships, then traces the history of the first steamship companies, focusing on Brazil and Chile until 1914. Part I then goes on to analyze the impact of World War I and the Great Depression. Part II considers World War II and U.S. surplus ships. New issues in Latin American shipping, arising in the 1950s, will be discussed in another volume.

Although Latin America had a substantial merchant fleet by the 1950s, at the end of the century most of the major shipping companies have disappeared from the continent. Continuing to grow through protectionist efforts during the 1960s and 1970s, the industry began to decline when container technology, requiring large capital investments, shifted competition to access capital. This book shows how technology undermined and finally shattered the nationalist efforts to create a significant Latin American merchant shipping industry. Written in a clear and concise style, it provides the first authoritative survey of Latin American shipping during the second half of the century.The book opens with a discussion of cargo preference—a form of protectionism—in Chile and shows how Latin American merchant fleets expanded under cargo preference. Most countries witnessed a dramatic expansion in their national fleets. In the 1970s, the impact of containers, a new technology, began to be felt. As the book shows, the large capital outlays needed to adopt containers undermined the foundations of Latin American shipping companies, and most of the merchant shipping companies in the region gradually collapsed. The book also examines the non-commercial role of merchant shipping, particularly in international clashes such as the Cuban Revolution.

This book, covering the period since 1920, attempts to answer Colombia's failure to properly utilize its vast reserves of coal, hydroelectricity, and petroleum. It examines Colombia's policies concerning a broad range of representative energy development projects.

This book, covering the period since 1920, attempts to answer Colombia's failure to properly utilize its vast reserves of coal, hydroelectricity, and petroleum. It examines Colombia's policies concerning a broad range of representative energy development projects.

The years 1899 through 1941 are remarkable even by Latin America's uniquely turbulent standards. During this time, border disputes and domestic insurrections forcefully shaped the history of this area, as many countries made the rocky transition from agrarian to industrial societies.This volume provides a concise survey of Latin American wars between 1899 and 1941. It compares and contrasts the wars and considers them in light of military theory. It also demonstrates how instrumental wars have been in directing the history of Latin America, and how the United States has often influenced these wars in a decisive manner. Wars examined include border disputes in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica, and domestic insurrections in Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Numerous photographs and maps illustrate the text and make it easy to follow every military campaign.The vivid narrative captures the human drama of the wars and brings to life the violent clashes of powerful personalities in unusually hostile terrain. Jungles, mountains, and deserts ravaged armies no less dramatically than combat, and the emotions the wars released make many episodes unforgettable.Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

This book continues the narrative begun by the author in Wars of Latin America, 1899-1941. It provides a clear and readable description of military combat occurring in Latin America from 1948 to the start of 1982. (In an unusual peaceful lull, Latin America experienced no wars from 1942 to 1947.) Although the text concentrates on combat narrative, matters of politics, business, and international relations appear as necessary to explain the wars.The author draws on many previously unknown sources to provide information never before published. The book traces the many insurgencies in Latin America as well as conventional wars. Among the highlights are the chapters on the Cuban and Nicaraguan insurrections and on the Bay of Pigs invasion. One goal of the text is to explain why, of the many insurgencies appearing in Latin America, only those in Cuba and Nicaragua were successful in overthrowing governments. The book also helps explain why even unsuccessful insurgencies have survived for decades, as has happened in Colombia and Peru.Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

This book, continuing the narrative begun by the author in two preceding volumes, provides a clear description of military combat occurring in Latin America for the years from 1982 into mid-2013. Although the text concentrates on combat operations, matters of politics, business and international relations appear as necessary to understand the wars.The author has uncovered many previously unknown sources to provide new information never published before. The book traces the many insurgencies in Latin America as well as conventional wars. Among the highlights are the chapters on the Falklands War and the U.S. invasions of Grenada and Panama. One useful aspect of the text is an explanation of why, of the many insurgencies appearing in Latin America, only those in Cuba and Nicaragua were successful in overthrowing governments. The book also helps explain why even unsuccessful insurgencies have survived for decades, as has happened in Colombia and Peru.Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Tracing the U.S. government's efforts to shape the armed forces of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean from 2000 to 2014, this narrative concentrates on the Army but also discusses Air Force and naval forces, including the Marines and the Coast Guard. Police forces in those regions are also covered.Mexico's ongoing struggle with drug cartels is discussed extensively. Venezuela and Cuba receive considerable attention. This study is the first to examine in detail the armed forces of countries such as the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Sections on Haiti and Panama, countries supposedly without armies, reveal the decisive role the U.S. has played in determining their military policies.The text weaves the histories of these armed forces into the broader context of the politics, economics and international relations in the region. A clear and brief introduction to the relations of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean with the United States is provided.

Foreign capital and free trade policies have provoked fierce conflicts in South America in recent years. People in Colombia and Peru engaged in often violent clashes to defend their livelihoods against the encroachments of the free market and the impositions of Wall Street. Farmers organized to save their lands from foreign mining corporations, and cities fought to save their water from contamination.Native Americans blocked highways to preserve ancestral lands, while students paralyzed universities and called for reforms to higher education.The shift toward socialism in Venezuela, led by President Hugo Chavez, was bitterly opposed by privileged groups.Governments tried to quell the turmoil through repression, political maneuvering and propaganda. This book provides a dramatic account of the struggles.

The transition from the Soviet to the post-1991 Russian military is a fascinating story of decline and reinvention. The Soviet army suffered a slow demise, dissolving in 2000 and only gradually reforming based on radically different principles. The First Chechnya War (1994-1996) was the lowest point for the Soviet military but the Second Chechnya War (1999-2004) saw the initial stirrings of the new Russian army. The Five Day War with Georgia in August 2008 was its first major success and marked Russia's return to world power status.Lively accounts and maps describe the actions of these wars, along with the Crimea operation of 2014, the separatist struggles in eastern Ukraine and the ongoing Russian intervention in Syria.