This book examines the responses of U.S. power in the two areas of the world where U.S. primacy was first successfully consolidated: East Asia and Latin America. The U.S. has faced no comparably powerful challengers to the exercise of its power in Latin America for much of the past century. It established its primacy over much of East Asia as the aftermath of WW II extending its influence in the late 1970's and also after the Vietnam War through its entente with China to balance the Soviet Union. In contrast, the U.S. has always encountered rivals and challengers in Europe, has been unsuccessful thus far in imposing primacy in the Middle East, and has paid only intermittent attention to South Asia and Africa.
The essays in this volume will explore three important themes:
1) How do region-wide economic trends and arrangements sustain or modify U.S. influence in the region? |