Power and Profits: U.S. Policy in Central America

By Ronald W. Cox

The cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union provided the context for U.S. policies toward Central America from the 1950s to the 1980s. Nonetheless, attitudes developed during the Cold War cannot explain the specific content of U.S. foreign policies toward the region. Ronald W. Cox argues that U.S. business interests have worked with policymakers to develop trade, aid and investment policies toward Central America. He reveals how the relationship between business groups and the state has been shaped by business competition, national security considerations, institutional structures, and instability in the Central American countries. Many see the state as autonomous and not influenced by business, but Cox argues that business groups have been able to take advantage of specific international circumstances to promote economic policies, thus increasing foreign investment. At the same time, division among business groups has affected foreign economic policies. This book is a provocative analysis of interest to scholars of international political economy, American foreign policy, comparative politics, and business-government relations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813118654
• ISBN13: 9780813118659
• Release Date: July 1994
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Best Book on U.S. Interventionism in Central America

This book analyzes the economic factors that influenced U.S. interventionism in Central American during the 1980s. Whereas most studies of this topic focus exclusively on "security" related considerations, this book adopts a political economy approach and argues that divisions between capital-intensive and labor intensive industries were major influences on U.S. intervention. The book does an outstanding job of analyzing the various theoretical approaches on pertaining to this topic, and using these theories to explain events. There is also a wealth of new documentary and archival material.