After war : the political economy of exporting democracy / Christopher J. Coyne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coyne, Christopher J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postwar reconstruction--Economic aspects.

Postwar reconstruction.

Imperialism--Economic aspects.

Imperialism.

Democracy--Economic aspects--United States.

Democracy.

Democracy--Economic aspects.

Military policy.

United States.

United States--Military policy--Economic aspects.

United States--Foreign economic relations.

International economic relations.

Physical Description:

x, 238 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford Economics and Finance, [2008]

Summary:

Do efforts to export democracy help as much as they hurt? This is one of the most enduring questions of our time. The United States has attempted to generate change in foreign countries by exporting liberal democratic institutions through military occupation and reconstruction, but U.S.-led reconstructions have been mixed, at best. For every West Germany or Japan, there is a Somalia or Vietnam. After War seeks to answer critical foreign policy questions by bringing an economic mindset to a topic usually tackled by historians, policymakers, and political scientists. Successful reconstruction entails finding and establishing a set of incentives that makes citizens prefer a liberal democratic order. Coyne examines the mechanisms and institutions that contribute to the success of reconstruction programs by creating incentives for sustained cooperation.

Coyne emphasizes that the main threat to Western nations does not come from a superpower, but from weak, failed, and conflict-torn states-and rogue groups within them. The cultural, hisrotical, and social dynamics at work in modern states fundamentally differ from those that the United States faced in the reconstructions of West Germany and Japan. So, these historical cases are poor models for today's challenges. In Coyne's view, policymakers and occupiers face an array of internal and external constraints in dealing with rogue states. These constraints are often greatest in the countries most in need of reform. Coyne offers two bold alternative catalysts for social change: principled non-intervention and unilateral free trade. The book highlights the economic and cultural benefits of free trade-led reforms. While Coyne contends that a commitment to non-intervention and free trade may not lead to Western-style liberal democracies, such a strategy could lay the groundwork for global peace.

Contents:

Can liberal democracy be exported at gunpoint?

From conflict to cooperation

Why can't they all get along?

Exporting conflict

The pinnacle of U.S. imperialism : Japan and West Germany

Fool's errands : Somalia and Haiti

Post-9/11 imperialism : Afghanistan and Iraq

Liberal means to liberal ends.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-225) and index.

ISBN:

9780804754392

080475439X

9780804754408

0804754403

OCLC:

124166044