Product Description
The
notion of engagement represents an indispensible tool in a foreign
policy practitioner’s armory. The idea of constructive engagement is
forwarded by governments as a method whereby pressure can be brought to
bear on countries to improve their record on human rights, while
diplomatic and economic contracts can be maintained. But does this
approach succeed? To answer this question this book offers a critical
evaluation of one of the best-known examples of constructive
engagement—the Reagan administration’s policy toward South Africa.
Chester Crocker was appointed as Reagan’s assistant secretary of state
for African affairs in 1981. Crocker maintained that unvarying hostile
rhetoric leveled at the apartheid regime in South Africa only served to
increase Pretoria’s mistrust and dislike of Washington and hardened
Pretoria’s intransigence.
Crocker asserted that an open dialogue,
together with a reduction of punitive measures, such as export
restrictions, would gain the confidence of Pretoria, enabling
Washington to influence South Africa toward a gradual change away from
apartheid.
This book aims to determine how successful Crocker’s
constructive engagement policy was in South Africa and the neighboring
states of Namibia and Angola. In this timely and brilliant study,
Davies examines the implications for current applications of
constructive engagement as a tool of foreign policy.
notion of engagement represents an indispensible tool in a foreign
policy practitioner’s armory. The idea of constructive engagement is
forwarded by governments as a method whereby pressure can be brought to
bear on countries to improve their record on human rights, while
diplomatic and economic contracts can be maintained. But does this
approach succeed? To answer this question this book offers a critical
evaluation of one of the best-known examples of constructive
engagement—the Reagan administration’s policy toward South Africa.
Chester Crocker was appointed as Reagan’s assistant secretary of state
for African affairs in 1981. Crocker maintained that unvarying hostile
rhetoric leveled at the apartheid regime in South Africa only served to
increase Pretoria’s mistrust and dislike of Washington and hardened
Pretoria’s intransigence.
Crocker asserted that an open dialogue,
together with a reduction of punitive measures, such as export
restrictions, would gain the confidence of Pretoria, enabling
Washington to influence South Africa toward a gradual change away from
apartheid.
This book aims to determine how successful Crocker’s
constructive engagement policy was in South Africa and the neighboring
states of Namibia and Angola. In this timely and brilliant study,
Davies examines the implications for current applications of
constructive engagement as a tool of foreign policy.
About the Author
J. E. Davies taught international relations at the University of Wales, Swansea, and is now a freelance writer living in Wales.
by Allan D. Cooper (Author)
by Odd Arne Westad (Author)
Review
'This is a genuinely 'international' history ... few
genuine research monographs are so wide ranging chronologically and
geographically, while also trying to absorb insights from sociology and
social anthropology ... taken as a whole no historian has dealt with
the links between the Cold War so fully, so broadly and so thoughtfully
as Westad in this new account ... a truly seminal work, whose findings
will exercise those researching the Cold War for many years.' Reviews
in History 'The Global Cold War is a powerful account of the way in
which the third world moved to the center of international politics in
the closing decades of the 20th century. Drawing on a stunning
multiplicity of archival material, Odd Arne Westad integrates
perspectives and disciplines which have, until now, remained separate:
US and Soviet ideologies, their politics and the interventions that
flowed from both; insurrection, rebellion, revolution and the power of
competing models of development, systems of support or subversion
(sometimes synonymous) that in part determined their outcome. Westad
writes with the combination of clarity, wit and passion that have
always characterized his work. This time the canvas is large enough to
do full justice to his scholarship and his humanity.' Marilyn B. Young,
New York University 'Odd Arne Westad's new book is an extremely
important contribution to the historiography of the Cold War. With
broad erudition, amazing geographical range, and inventive research in
archives around the globe, Westad tells the tragic story of the United
States and Soviet Union's involvement in what became the 'Third World'.
The newly emerging nations of the 'South' - of Africa, Asia, and Latin
America - barely emerged from their humiliating subservience to
European colonialism before being dragged by Cold War rivalries into
ideologically-inspired upheavals that ended up bankrupting their
countries and devastating their peoples. Westad's study enables his
readers to integrate the Third World into the history of the Cold War
and confronts them with the meaning of intervention in the past for the
international system today.' Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University 'In
a reinterpretation of the Cold War that is as thorough as it is
important, Westad places Soviet and American interventions in the Third
World at the center of their struggle. Driven by ideology and the need
to affirm the rightness of their principles, both superpowers felt
compelled to contest with the other in areas of little intrinsic
importance. The results were almost uniformly failures, and in the
process brought much sorrow and destruction to the Third World. The
picture is not a pretty one, but Westad shows that studying it reveals
much about the Cold War, and about the current world scene.' Robert
Jervis, Columbia University 'Based on prodigious research, this
ambitious and wide-ranging book presents the most important account to
date of the Cold War in the Third World. Westad's study represents
broad-based, international history at its best. He deftly weaves
together the tale of world politics writ large with stories about
variegated processes of revolution and social change across the Third
World. This should prove an indispensable work for anyone interested in
the history of the twentieth-century.' Robert J. McMahon, University of
Florida 'For the serious student of our times Odd Arne Westad's The
Global Cold War could provide a serious weapon for their scholastic
arsenal.' Open History: The Journal of the Open University History
Society '... Westad's work combines sophisticated analysis, insight
into the motivations and behaviours of non-Western actors, historical
perspective, fair-mindedness and a sympathy for the victims on all
sides. Westad's pioneering work in Soviet archives means that his book
illuminates better than any other work I have read in English the
thinking and motivations of the Soviet leadership and its advisers when
it came to the Third World.' London Review of Books '... Westad
presents a finely crafted and immaculately researched study that
presents some of the findings from the archives of the former Soviet
Union and its communist allies alongside the more familiar American and
western sources.' International Affairs 'There are already a number of
books on the Cold War, and more are likely as more information becomes
available. This work will remain important, however, for shifting the
focus away from Europe and North Korea, to the wider world in which the
superpower struggle took place. It is well written and draws on a wide
range of materials. Many will not agree with all the arguments, but it
is a major contribution to our understanding of how the world became as
it is.' Asian Affairs 'Westad's brilliant, bitter account, based on
prodigious research, is an indictment of the superpowers. They treated
the Third World as their playground and left it devastated. ... The
authors provide new insights into the Berlin crises of 1958-63.' Martin
McCauley
Review
"Based on prodigious research, this
ambitious and wide-ranging book presents the most important account to
date of the Cold War in the Third World. Westad's study represents
broad-based, international history at its best. He deftly weaves
together the tale of world politics writ large with stories about
variegated processes of revolution and social change across the Third
World. This should prove an indispensable work for anyone interested in
the history of the twentieth-century."
-Robert J. McMahon, University of Florida
"The
Global Cold War is a powerful account of the way in which the third
world moved to the center of international politics in the closing
decades of the 20th century. Drawing on a stunning multiplicity of
archival material, Odd Arne Westad integrates perspectives and
disciplines which have, until now, remained separate: U.S. and Soviet
ideologies, their politics and the interventions that flowed from both;
insurrection, rebellion, revolution and the power of competing models
of development, systems of support or subversion (sometimes synonymous)
that in part determined their outcome. Westad writes with the
combination of clarity, wit and passion that have always characterized
his work. This time the canvas is large enough to do full justice to
his scholarship and his humanity."
-Marilyn B. Young, New York University
"Odd
Arne Westad's new book is an extremely important contribution to the
historiography of the Cold War. With broad erudition, amazing
geographical range, and inventive research in archives around the
globe, Westad tells the tragic story of the United States and Soviet
Union's involvement in what became called the 'Third World.' The newly
emerging nations of the 'South' - of Africa, Asia, and Latin America -
barely emerged from their humiliating subservience to European
colonialism before being dragged by Cold War rivalries into
ideologically-inspired upheavals that ended up bankrupting their
countries and devastating their peoples. Westad's study enables his
readers to integrate the Third World into the history of the Cold War
and confronts them with the meaning of intervention in the past for the
international system today."
-Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University
"In
a reinterpretation of the Cold War that is as thorough as it is
important, Westad places Soviet and American interventions in the Third
World at the center of their struggle. Driven by ideology and the need
to affirm the rightness of their principles, both superpowers felt
compelled to contest with the other in areas of little intrinsic
importance. The results were almost uniformly failures, and in the
process brought much sorrow and destruction to the Third World. The
picture is not a pretty one, but Westad shows that studying it reveals
much about the Cold War, and about the current world scene."
-Robert Jervis, Columbia University
"Westad's
account is sharply observed and deeply researched...this book is
superb: few scholars could match Westad's mastery of the sources."
-Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006
"The Global Cold War is remarkable for its geographical and historical breath"
-Robert A. Goldberg, University of Utah, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"This
study is a comprehensive, well-documented, and well-written history of
the Cold War in the Third World. Westad has done a superb job of
explaining how the world of today, both at home and abroad, is largely
a product of the Cold War era. His book belongs on the shelf of every
serious student of recent world history."
-Ronald Powaski, The Historian
"This
particularly impressive and clearly written account of the Cold War is
especially valuable because of its global perspective, and its focus on
the worldwide impact of superpower confrontation...an impressive work
that deserves attention."
-Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, The Journal of Military History
Product Description
The Cold War between the
former Soviet Union and the United States indelibly shaped the world we
live in today--especially international politics, economics, and
military affairs. This volume shows how the globalization of the Cold
War during the 20th century created the foundations for most of today's
key international conflicts, including the "war on terror." Odd Arne
Westad examines the origins and course of Third World revolutions and
the ideologies that drove the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. towards
interventionism. He focuses on how these interventions gave rise to
resentments and resistance that, in the end, helped to topple one and
to seriously challenge the other superpower. In addition, he
demonstrates how these worldwide interventions determined the
international and domestic framework within which political, social and
cultural changes took place in such countries as China, Indonesia,
Iran, Ethiopia, Angola, Cuba, and Nicaragua. According to Westad, these
changes, plus the ideologies, movements and states that interventionism
stirred up, constitute the real legacy of the Cold War. Odd Arne Westad
is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics
and Political Science. In 2004 he was named head of department and
co-director of the new LSE Cold War Studies Centre. Professor Westad is
the author, or editor, of ten books on contemporary international
history including Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950
(2003) and, with Jussi Hanhimaki, The Cold War: A History in Documents
and Eyewitness Accounts (2003). In addition, he is a founding editor of
the journal Cold War History.
Book Description
This is a compelling and
controversial reexamination of the global conflict waged by the United
States and Soviet Union during the Cold War and the part it played in
shaping Africa, Asia and Latin America today. Arne Westad examines the
origins and course of Third World revolutions and the ideologies that
drove the United States and Soviet Union towards interventionism. He
argues that the real lasting legacy of the Cold War are the ideologies,
movements and states which interventionism has fuelled and which
increasingly dominate international affairs today.
About the Author
Odd Arne Westad is
Director of the Cold War Studies Centre at the London School of
Economics and Political Science. His recent publications include
Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950 (2003) and The
Cold War: A History in Documents and Eyewitness Accounts (2003).
Ovambo Politics in the Twentieth Century (Paperback)
by Allan D. Cooper (Author)
- Paperback: 362 pages
- Publisher: University Press of America (December 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0761821104
- ISBN-13: 978-0761821106
The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (Paperback)
by Odd Arne Westad (Author)
- Paperback: 498 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press (February 19, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 052170314X
- ISBN-13: 978-0521703147
Review
'This is a genuinely 'international' history ... few
genuine research monographs are so wide ranging chronologically and
geographically, while also trying to absorb insights from sociology and
social anthropology ... taken as a whole no historian has dealt with
the links between the Cold War so fully, so broadly and so thoughtfully
as Westad in this new account ... a truly seminal work, whose findings
will exercise those researching the Cold War for many years.' Reviews
in History 'The Global Cold War is a powerful account of the way in
which the third world moved to the center of international politics in
the closing decades of the 20th century. Drawing on a stunning
multiplicity of archival material, Odd Arne Westad integrates
perspectives and disciplines which have, until now, remained separate:
US and Soviet ideologies, their politics and the interventions that
flowed from both; insurrection, rebellion, revolution and the power of
competing models of development, systems of support or subversion
(sometimes synonymous) that in part determined their outcome. Westad
writes with the combination of clarity, wit and passion that have
always characterized his work. This time the canvas is large enough to
do full justice to his scholarship and his humanity.' Marilyn B. Young,
New York University 'Odd Arne Westad's new book is an extremely
important contribution to the historiography of the Cold War. With
broad erudition, amazing geographical range, and inventive research in
archives around the globe, Westad tells the tragic story of the United
States and Soviet Union's involvement in what became the 'Third World'.
The newly emerging nations of the 'South' - of Africa, Asia, and Latin
America - barely emerged from their humiliating subservience to
European colonialism before being dragged by Cold War rivalries into
ideologically-inspired upheavals that ended up bankrupting their
countries and devastating their peoples. Westad's study enables his
readers to integrate the Third World into the history of the Cold War
and confronts them with the meaning of intervention in the past for the
international system today.' Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University 'In
a reinterpretation of the Cold War that is as thorough as it is
important, Westad places Soviet and American interventions in the Third
World at the center of their struggle. Driven by ideology and the need
to affirm the rightness of their principles, both superpowers felt
compelled to contest with the other in areas of little intrinsic
importance. The results were almost uniformly failures, and in the
process brought much sorrow and destruction to the Third World. The
picture is not a pretty one, but Westad shows that studying it reveals
much about the Cold War, and about the current world scene.' Robert
Jervis, Columbia University 'Based on prodigious research, this
ambitious and wide-ranging book presents the most important account to
date of the Cold War in the Third World. Westad's study represents
broad-based, international history at its best. He deftly weaves
together the tale of world politics writ large with stories about
variegated processes of revolution and social change across the Third
World. This should prove an indispensable work for anyone interested in
the history of the twentieth-century.' Robert J. McMahon, University of
Florida 'For the serious student of our times Odd Arne Westad's The
Global Cold War could provide a serious weapon for their scholastic
arsenal.' Open History: The Journal of the Open University History
Society '... Westad's work combines sophisticated analysis, insight
into the motivations and behaviours of non-Western actors, historical
perspective, fair-mindedness and a sympathy for the victims on all
sides. Westad's pioneering work in Soviet archives means that his book
illuminates better than any other work I have read in English the
thinking and motivations of the Soviet leadership and its advisers when
it came to the Third World.' London Review of Books '... Westad
presents a finely crafted and immaculately researched study that
presents some of the findings from the archives of the former Soviet
Union and its communist allies alongside the more familiar American and
western sources.' International Affairs 'There are already a number of
books on the Cold War, and more are likely as more information becomes
available. This work will remain important, however, for shifting the
focus away from Europe and North Korea, to the wider world in which the
superpower struggle took place. It is well written and draws on a wide
range of materials. Many will not agree with all the arguments, but it
is a major contribution to our understanding of how the world became as
it is.' Asian Affairs 'Westad's brilliant, bitter account, based on
prodigious research, is an indictment of the superpowers. They treated
the Third World as their playground and left it devastated. ... The
authors provide new insights into the Berlin crises of 1958-63.' Martin
McCauley
Review
"Based on prodigious research, this
ambitious and wide-ranging book presents the most important account to
date of the Cold War in the Third World. Westad's study represents
broad-based, international history at its best. He deftly weaves
together the tale of world politics writ large with stories about
variegated processes of revolution and social change across the Third
World. This should prove an indispensable work for anyone interested in
the history of the twentieth-century."
-Robert J. McMahon, University of Florida
"The
Global Cold War is a powerful account of the way in which the third
world moved to the center of international politics in the closing
decades of the 20th century. Drawing on a stunning multiplicity of
archival material, Odd Arne Westad integrates perspectives and
disciplines which have, until now, remained separate: U.S. and Soviet
ideologies, their politics and the interventions that flowed from both;
insurrection, rebellion, revolution and the power of competing models
of development, systems of support or subversion (sometimes synonymous)
that in part determined their outcome. Westad writes with the
combination of clarity, wit and passion that have always characterized
his work. This time the canvas is large enough to do full justice to
his scholarship and his humanity."
-Marilyn B. Young, New York University
"Odd
Arne Westad's new book is an extremely important contribution to the
historiography of the Cold War. With broad erudition, amazing
geographical range, and inventive research in archives around the
globe, Westad tells the tragic story of the United States and Soviet
Union's involvement in what became called the 'Third World.' The newly
emerging nations of the 'South' - of Africa, Asia, and Latin America -
barely emerged from their humiliating subservience to European
colonialism before being dragged by Cold War rivalries into
ideologically-inspired upheavals that ended up bankrupting their
countries and devastating their peoples. Westad's study enables his
readers to integrate the Third World into the history of the Cold War
and confronts them with the meaning of intervention in the past for the
international system today."
-Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University
"In
a reinterpretation of the Cold War that is as thorough as it is
important, Westad places Soviet and American interventions in the Third
World at the center of their struggle. Driven by ideology and the need
to affirm the rightness of their principles, both superpowers felt
compelled to contest with the other in areas of little intrinsic
importance. The results were almost uniformly failures, and in the
process brought much sorrow and destruction to the Third World. The
picture is not a pretty one, but Westad shows that studying it reveals
much about the Cold War, and about the current world scene."
-Robert Jervis, Columbia University
"Westad's
account is sharply observed and deeply researched...this book is
superb: few scholars could match Westad's mastery of the sources."
-Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006
"The Global Cold War is remarkable for its geographical and historical breath"
-Robert A. Goldberg, University of Utah, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"This
study is a comprehensive, well-documented, and well-written history of
the Cold War in the Third World. Westad has done a superb job of
explaining how the world of today, both at home and abroad, is largely
a product of the Cold War era. His book belongs on the shelf of every
serious student of recent world history."
-Ronald Powaski, The Historian
"This
particularly impressive and clearly written account of the Cold War is
especially valuable because of its global perspective, and its focus on
the worldwide impact of superpower confrontation...an impressive work
that deserves attention."
-Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, The Journal of Military History
Product Description
The Cold War between the
former Soviet Union and the United States indelibly shaped the world we
live in today--especially international politics, economics, and
military affairs. This volume shows how the globalization of the Cold
War during the 20th century created the foundations for most of today's
key international conflicts, including the "war on terror." Odd Arne
Westad examines the origins and course of Third World revolutions and
the ideologies that drove the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. towards
interventionism. He focuses on how these interventions gave rise to
resentments and resistance that, in the end, helped to topple one and
to seriously challenge the other superpower. In addition, he
demonstrates how these worldwide interventions determined the
international and domestic framework within which political, social and
cultural changes took place in such countries as China, Indonesia,
Iran, Ethiopia, Angola, Cuba, and Nicaragua. According to Westad, these
changes, plus the ideologies, movements and states that interventionism
stirred up, constitute the real legacy of the Cold War. Odd Arne Westad
is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics
and Political Science. In 2004 he was named head of department and
co-director of the new LSE Cold War Studies Centre. Professor Westad is
the author, or editor, of ten books on contemporary international
history including Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950
(2003) and, with Jussi Hanhimaki, The Cold War: A History in Documents
and Eyewitness Accounts (2003). In addition, he is a founding editor of
the journal Cold War History.
Book Description
This is a compelling and
controversial reexamination of the global conflict waged by the United
States and Soviet Union during the Cold War and the part it played in
shaping Africa, Asia and Latin America today. Arne Westad examines the
origins and course of Third World revolutions and the ideologies that
drove the United States and Soviet Union towards interventionism. He
argues that the real lasting legacy of the Cold War are the ideologies,
movements and states which interventionism has fuelled and which
increasingly dominate international affairs today.
About the Author
Odd Arne Westad is
Director of the Cold War Studies Centre at the London School of
Economics and Political Science. His recent publications include
Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950 (2003) and The
Cold War: A History in Documents and Eyewitness Accounts (2003).
