Victor Bulmer-Thomas - Böcker

A sweeping history of the United States through the lens of empire—and an incisive look forward as the nation retreats from the global stageA respected authority on international relations and foreign policy, Victor Bulmer‑Thomas offers a grand survey of the United States as an empire. From its territorial expansion after independence, through hegemonic rule following World War II, to the nation’s current imperial retreat, the United States has had an uneasy relationship with the idea of itself as an empire. In this book Bulmer‑Thomas offers three definitions of empire—territorial, informal, and institutional—that help to explain the nation’s past and forecast a future in which the United States will cease to play an imperial role. Arguing that the move toward diminished geopolitical dominance reflects the aspirations of most U.S. citizens, he asserts that imperial retreat does not necessarily mean national decline and may ultimately strengthen the nation‑state. At this pivotal juncture in American history, Bulmer‑Thomas’s uniquely global perspective will be widely read and discussed across a range of fields.

The economies of Latin America have undergone a deep process of change in the last decade as a result of the application of major reforms. The outcome can be fairly described as a New Economic Model. This New Economic Model is distinguished from its predecessor, in force before the 1980s debt crisis, by an emphasis on market forces and export-led growth. This book explores the main features of the New Economic Model in Latin America and, through analysis of the reform process and case studies, examines its impact on income distribution and poverty.

The economies of Latin America have undergone a deep process of change in the last decade as a result of the application of major reforms. The outcome can be fairly described as a New Economic Model. This New Economic Model is distinguished from its predecessor, in force before the 1980s debt crisis, by an emphasis on market forces and export-led growth. This book explores the main features of the New Economic Model in Latin America and, through analysis of the reform process and case studies, examines its impact on income distribution and poverty.

British relations with Latin America have declined dramatically. The strength of British influence in Latin America in the nineteenth century could not be sustained as a consequence of the two world wars, the intervening depression and the emergence of the United States of America as the major power in the region. Since 1945, despite opportunities to re-establish its presence, Britain has seen a further decline in its relations with Latin America, and the consequences of neglect were brought home in spectacular fashion by the war between Britain and Argentina in 1982. Britain and Latin America: A Changing Relationship studies the reasons for this decline, examines the sources of friction and explores the prospect of strengthening relations in the 1990s.

In this book Victor Bulmer-Thomas uses his previously unpublished estimates of the national accounts to explore economic and social development in the five Central American republics from 1920. He examines in detail variations in economic policy between countries which help to account for differences in performance. The major political developments are woven into the analysis and linked to changes in internal and external conditions. Growth under liberal oligarchic rule in the 1920s, heavily dependent on exports of coffee and bananas, was accompanied by modest reform programmes. The 1929 depression, which hit the region hard, undermined most of the reforms and ushered in a period of dictatorial rule in all republics except Costa Rica. The Second World War, particularly after the entry of the United States, at first strengthened the dictatorships, but ultimately produced challenges to rule by authoritarian caudillos. The social upheavals accompanying the post-war export-led boom forced governments in each republic to address the question of economic, social and political reform.

British relations with Latin America have declined dramatically. The strength of British influence in Latin America in the nineteenth century could not be sustained as a consequence of the two world wars, the intervening depression and the emergence of the United States of America as the major power in the region. Since 1945, despite opportunities to re-establish its presence, Britain has seen a further decline in its relations with Latin America, and the consequences of neglect were brought home in spectacular fashion by the war between Britain and Argentina in 1982. Britain and Latin America: A Changing Relationship studies the reasons for this decline, examines the sources of friction and explores the prospect of strengthening relations in the 1990s.

Volume one includes the colonial and independence eras up to 1850, linking Latin America's economic history to the pre-Hispanic, European, and African background. It also synthesizes knowledge on the human and environmental impact of the Spanish conquest, the evolution of colonial economic institutions, and the performance of key sectors of the colonial and immediate post-colonial economies. Finally, it analyses of the costs and benefits of independence.

Volume Two treats the 'long twentieth century' from the onset of modern economic growth to the present. It analyzes the principal dimensions of Latin America's first era of sustained economic growth from the last decades of the nineteenth century to 1930. It explores the era of inward-looking development from the 1930s to the collapse of import-substituting industrialization and the return to strategies of globalization in the 1980s. Finally, it looks at the long term trends in capital flows, agriculture and the environment.

This study, now in a revised and updated third edition, covers the economic history of Latin America from independence in the 1820s to the present. It stresses the differences between Latin American countries while recognizing the external influences to which the whole region has been subject. Victor Bulmer-Thomas notes the failure of the region to close the gap in living standards between it and the United States and explores the reasons. He also examines the new paradigm taking shape in Latin America since the debt crisis of the 1980s and asks whether this new economic model will be able to bring the growth and improvement in equity that the region desperately needs. This third edition contains a wealth of new material that draws on the new research in the area in the past ten years.

This study, now in a revised and updated third edition, covers the economic history of Latin America from independence in the 1820s to the present. It stresses the differences between Latin American countries while recognizing the external influences to which the whole region has been subject. Victor Bulmer-Thomas notes the failure of the region to close the gap in living standards between it and the United States and explores the reasons. He also examines the new paradigm taking shape in Latin America since the debt crisis of the 1980s and asks whether this new economic model will be able to bring the growth and improvement in equity that the region desperately needs. This third edition contains a wealth of new material that draws on the new research in the area in the past ten years.

Over several centuries, England imposed itself by force and by treaty on the other three nations of the Hiberno-British Isles to form its own English Empire. For much of its life, the United Kingdom has only endured out of shared interest in overseas territorial expansion--a British Empire built on slavery. In his new history, Victor Bulmer-Thomas charts the slow rise and rapid decline of English imperialism at home, from the fourteenth century to the present. When independence movements in the colonies began challenging the British Empire, a Commonwealth was constructed to hold together both former imperial possessions--including the Irish Free State-- and the four nations of the internal empire. The Commonwealth was later supplanted by the European Economic Community, but Europe's potential as a long-term source of cohesion for the UK was dashed when the English voted to leave the EU in 2016, dragging the whole UK with them. With Empire, Commonwealth and Europe all gone, British unity is more fragile than ever. Facing the prospect of an independent Scotland, a reunited Ireland and an increasingly autonomous Wales, England may yet have to acknowledge its forgotten history as an aggressive imperial force on Britain's own, often unwilling, soil.