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American Justice In Taiwan: The 1957 Riots and Cold War Foreign Policy

Stephen G. Craft

On May 23, 1957, U.S. Army Sergeant Robert Reynolds was acquitted of murdering Chinese officer Liu Ziran in Taiwan. Reynolds did not deny shooting Liu but claimed self-defense and, like all members ... More

On May 23, 1957, U.S. Army Sergeant Robert Reynolds was acquitted of murdering Chinese officer Liu Ziran in Taiwan. Reynolds did not deny shooting Liu but claimed self-defense and, like all members of U.S. Military Assistance and Advisory Groups, was protected under diplomatic immunity. Reynolds's acquittal sparked a series of riots across Taiwan that became an international crisis for the Eisenhower administration and raised serious questions about the legal status of U.S. military forces positioned around the world. In American Justice in Taiwan, Stephen G. Craft provides the first comprehensive study of the causes and consequences of the Reynolds trial and the ensuing protests. After a century of unfair treaties imposed by Western nations, the Taiwanese regarded the special legal status of resident American personnel with extreme distrust. While Eisenhower and his advisers considered Taiwan to be a vital ally against China, the United States believed that the Taiwanese government had instigated the unrest to protest the verdict and demand legal jurisdiction over GIs. The events that transpired exposed the enormous difficulty of applying the U.S. military's Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) across cultures. Employing meticulous research in both Western and Chinese archives, Craft demonstrates that the riots were only anti-American in that the Taiwanese rejected the UCMJ, the affording of diplomatic immunity to occupying U.S. forces, and the military courts' interpretation of self-defense. His compelling study provides a new lens through which to examine U.S.-Taiwan relations in the 1950s, U.S. policy in Asia, and the charged and complex question of the legal status of U.S. troops on foreign soil.Less

Breaking Protocol: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-1964

Philip Nash

Breaking Protocol tells the story of the first female ambassadors in US history (1933–1964): Ruth Bryan Owen, Florence Jaffray Harriman, Perle S. Mesta, Eugenie M. Anderson, Clare Boothe Luce, and ... More

Breaking Protocol tells the story of the first female ambassadors in US history (1933–1964): Ruth Bryan Owen, Florence Jaffray Harriman, Perle S. Mesta, Eugenie M. Anderson, Clare Boothe Luce, and Frances E. Willis. This is the first group biography of the Big Six, one that places these women in a wider historical context based on deep and broad research in archival sources. It restores these women to their rightful place in history, and it assists the larger project of rendering women in international history visible. It begins by establishing the historical context, the male-dominated world of American diplomacy in the first half of the twentieth century. It then devotes one chapter each to the six female ambassadors, describing their backgrounds and appointments, analyzing the issues they faced and experiences they had on the job, and assessing their performances. It also traces the ambassadors’ reception by host countries; their sometimes fraught relations with the male-dominated State Department; the press coverage they received; the complications of protocol and the spouse issue; and how they practiced “people’s diplomacy”—getting to know, and representing America to, the host country’s whole society, not just its ruling elite. It ends by outlining the progress made and obstacles faced by women since the mid-1960s, and it concludes that, through their successful performances, the Big Six significantly contributed to gender progress in US foreign relations.Less

China Looks at the West: Identity, Global Ambitions, and the Future of Sino-American Relations

Christopher A. Ford

Chinese leaders have long been fascinated by the United States, but have often chosen to demonize America for perceived cultural and military imperialism. Especially under Communist rule, Chinese ... More

Chinese leaders have long been fascinated by the United States, but have often chosen to demonize America for perceived cultural and military imperialism. Especially under Communist rule, Chinese leaders have crafted and re-crafted portrayals of the United States according to the needs of their own agenda and the regime’s self-image—often seeing America as an antagonist and foil, but sometimes playing it up as a model. In China Looks at the West, Christopher A. Ford investigates what these depictions reveal about internal Chinese politics and Beijing’s ambitions in the world today. In particular, Ford emphasizes the importance of China’s “return” to global preeminence in state images, which has become an essential concept in the regime’s self-image and legitimacy. He also examines the history of Chinese intellectual engagement with America, surveying the ways in which Chinese elites have manipulated attitudes toward the United States, and revealing how leaders from Qing dynasty officials to Mao Zedong and from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping have altered and reconstructed this narrative to support their own political agendas. Ford concludes the volume with a series of scenario-based alternatives for how China’s approaches to understanding itself and other nations may evolve in the future. Based on extensive research, including interviews with Chinese scholars and researchers, this groundbreaking study is essential reading for policymakers and readers seeking to understand current and future Sino-American relations.Less

A Diplomatic Meeting: Reagan, Thatcher, and the Art of Summitry

James Cooper

Drawing on a host of recently declassified documents from the Reagan-Thatcher years, A Diplomatic Meeting: Reagan, Thatcher, and the Art of Summitry provides an innovative framework for understanding ... More

Drawing on a host of recently declassified documents from the Reagan-Thatcher years, A Diplomatic Meeting: Reagan, Thatcher, and the Art of Summitry provides an innovative framework for understanding the development and nature of the special relationship between British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and American president Ronald Reagan, who were known as "political soulmates." James Cooper boldly challenges the popular conflation of the leaders' platforms, and proposes that Reagan and Thatcher's summitry highlighted unique features of domestic policy in their respective countries. Summits, therefore, were a significant opportunity for the two world leaders to further their own domestic agendas. Cooper uses the relationship between Reagan and Thatcher to demonstrate that summitry politics transcended any distinction between foreign policy and domestic politics—a major objective of Reagan and Thatcher as they sought to consolidate power and implement their domestic economic programs in a parallel quest to reverse notions of their countries' "decline." This unique and significant study about the making of the Reagan-Thatcher relationship uses their key meetings as an avenue to explore the fluidity between the domestic and international spheres, a perspective that is underappreciated in existing interpretations of the leaders' relationship and Anglo-American relations and, more broadly, in the field of international affairs.Less

Fourteen Points for the Twenty-First Century: A Renewed Appeal for Cooperative Internationalism

Richard H. Immerman and Jeffrey A. Engel (eds)

This book is a collection of fourteen solutions for some of the twenty-first century’s greatest challenges. Each of the contributors—selected for their expertise and accomplishments in fields as ... More

This book is a collection of fourteen solutions for some of the twenty-first century’s greatest challenges. Each of the contributors—selected for their expertise and accomplishments in fields as varied as medicine, finance, international development, and history—employs Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points as inspiration, providing historical background to situate Wilson’s ideas in their full context. First presented in 1918 as World War I raged, the original Fourteen Points offered a thoughtful and synthetic plan for overhauling the international order. Inspired by its magnitude and impact, the contributors use Wilson’s framework to prescribe remedies to the following problems: politics; development; migration; environmentalism, medicine, and health care; statecraft, international cooperation, and military restraint; privacy and technology; and food security. Collectively, the volume reassesses and calls for a renewal of the globalism at the heart of Wilson’s influential Fourteen Points a century after they were first offered, with the goal of solving our own century’s most pressing problems.Less

The Future of China-Russia Relations

James A. Bellacqua (ed.)

Relations between China and Russia have evolved dramatically since their first diplomatic contact, particularly during the twentieth century. During the past decade China and Russia have made efforts ... More

Relations between China and Russia have evolved dramatically since their first diplomatic contact, particularly during the twentieth century. During the past decade China and Russia have made efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and improve cooperation on a number of diplomatic fronts. The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation maintain exceptionally close and friendly relations, strong geopolitical and regional cooperation, and significant levels of trade. This book explores the current state of the relationship between the two powers and assesses the prospects for future cooperation and possible tensions in the new century. The chapters examine Russian and Chinese perspectives on a wide range of issues, including security, political relationships, economic interactions, and defense ties. This collection explores the energy courtship between the two nations and analyzes their interests and policies regarding Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan.Less

Inside China’s Grand Strategy: The Perspective from the People's Republic

Ye Zicheng

Guoli Liu (ed.)

China's enormous size, vast population, abundant natural resources, robust economy, and modern military suggest that it will emerge as a great world power. This book offers unique insights about the ... More

China's enormous size, vast population, abundant natural resources, robust economy, and modern military suggest that it will emerge as a great world power. This book offers unique insights about the country's geopolitical ambitions and strategic thinking. The book examines China's interactions with current world powers as well as its policies toward neighboring countries. Despite claims that repressive domestic policies and an economic slowdown are evidence that the country's efforts toward modernization will fail, the book points to China's inclusion in the G-20 as an indicator of success. It compares China's global ascension, particularly its emphasis on peace, to the historical experiences of rising European superpowers, providing an insider look at a country poised to become an increasingly prominent international power.Less

Integral Pluralism: Beyond Culture Wars

Fred Dallmayr

In addition to war, terrorism, and unchecked military violence, modernity is also subject to less visible but no less venomous conflicts. Global in nature, these “culture wars” exacerbate the ... More

In addition to war, terrorism, and unchecked military violence, modernity is also subject to less visible but no less venomous conflicts. Global in nature, these “culture wars” exacerbate the tensions between tradition and innovation, virtue and freedom. This book charts a course beyond these persistent but curable dichotomies. Consulting diverse fields such as philosophy, literature, political science, and religious studies, the book equates modern history with a process of steady pluralization. This process, which the book calls “integral pluralism,” requires new connections and creates ethical responsibilities. The book critically compares integral pluralism against the theories of Carl Schmitt, the Religious Right, international “realism,” and so-called political Islam. Drawing on the works of James, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Merleau-Ponty, it offers solutions for the conflicts of the modern world.Less

JFK and de Gaulle: How America and France Failed in Vietnam, 1961-1963

Sean J. McLaughlin

This book explores French president Charles de Gaulle’s frank, persistent, and discrete campaign to dissuade President Kennedy from expanding the American military/economic aid program in Vietnam ... More

This book explores French president Charles de Gaulle’s frank, persistent, and discrete campaign to dissuade President Kennedy from expanding the American military/economic aid program in Vietnam from their first summit meeting between in May 1961 up until Kennedy green-lit a coup against South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem in the late summer of 1963. There were many thorny issues that complicated the Franco-American relationship in the early 1960s—ranging from nuclear policy, British entry into the European Economic Community (EEC), and conditions for negotiating with Moscow—but Vietnam was the one case where de Gaulle was unquestionably right and Kennedy terribly wrong in hindsight. Kennedy’s decision to ignore de Gaulle on this matter was far costlier than any other, setting off a chain of events that resulted in the deaths of over 58,000 American soldiers, turned hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese into refugees, and dealt a massive blow to American prestige across the globe. Despite de Gaulle’s efforts to constructively share French experience and use his resources to help engineer an American exit, the Kennedy administration responded to his peace initiatives with bitter silence and inaction. In the end, the Kennedy administration assumed that it was uniquely qualified to win “hearts and minds” in the Third World, while the discredited imperialists in the Élysée in Paris had lost their right to formulate Western policy in Southeast Asia by virtue of a long string of humiliating military defeats in their former colonies.Less

Korean Democracy in Transition: A Rational Blueprint for Developing Societies

HeeMin Kim

As Asian countries emerge as global economic powers, many undergo fundamental political transformations. This book evaluates the past thirty years of political change in South Korea, including the ... More

As Asian countries emerge as global economic powers, many undergo fundamental political transformations. This book evaluates the past thirty years of political change in South Korea, including the decision of the authoritarian government to open up the political process in 1987 and the presidential impeachment of 2004. The book uses rational choice theory—which holds that individuals choose to act in ways that they think will give them the most benefit for the least cost—to explain events central to South Korea's democratization process. The book's theoretical and quantitative analysis provides a context for South Korea's remarkable transformation and offers predictions of what the future may hold for developing nations undergoing similar transitions. Combining theoretical perspectives with a policy-relevant discussion, this study sheds new light on the Korean model of democratization and makes a significant contribution to the field of comparative politics.Less

The Legacy of J. William Fulbright: Policy, Power, and Ideology

Alessandro Brogi, Giles Scott-Smith, and Snyder David J. (eds)

The Legacy of J. William Fulbright: Policy, Power, and Ideology offers a fresh retrospective on the influential career of Senator J. William Fulbright, a leading foreign policy thinker and the ... More

The Legacy of J. William Fulbright: Policy, Power, and Ideology offers a fresh retrospective on the influential career of Senator J. William Fulbright, a leading foreign policy thinker and the longest-serving chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in American history. Juxtaposing Fulbright’s career as a foreign policy intellectual, including his powerful framing of post–World War II liberal internationalism, with his advocacy for the eponymous educational exchange program that he devised, this book contextualizes liberal internationalism within a broader sweep of US foreign policy thinking. Especially relevant is the role of American culture and political institutions in the formulation of liberal internationalism as well as the erosion of liberal internationalist confidence in the years after the Vietnam War, all exemplified by Fulbright’s public utterances, his conduct in office, and the foreign influence of the famed scholarly exchange program that bears his name.Less

The Mind of Empire: China's History and Modern Foreign Relations

Christopher A. Ford

In the last century, no other nation has grown and transformed itself with such zeal as China. With a booming economy, a formidable military, and a rapidly expanding population, China is emerging as ... More

In the last century, no other nation has grown and transformed itself with such zeal as China. With a booming economy, a formidable military, and a rapidly expanding population, China is emerging as a twenty-first-century global superpower. China's prosperity has increased dramatically in the last two decades, propelling the nation to a prominent position in the international community. Yet China's ancient history still informs and shapes its understanding of itself in relation to the world. As a highly developed and modern nation, China is something of a paradox. Though China is an international leader in modern business and technology, its past remains a source of guiding principles for the nation's foreign policy. This book demonstrates how China's historical awareness shapes its objectives and how the resulting national consciousness continues to influence the country's policymaking. Despite its increasing prominence among modern, developed nations, China continues to seek guidance from a past characterized by Confucian notions of hierarchical political order and a “moral geography” that places China at the center of the civilized world. The book describes how these attitudes have clashed with traditional Western ideals of sovereignty and international law. It speculates about how China's legacy may continue to shape its foreign relations and offers a warning about the potential global consequences. The book examines major themes in China's conception of domestic and global political order, describes key historical precedents, and outlines the remarkable continuity of China's Sinocentric stance.Less

The Myth of Triumphalism: Rethinking President Reagan's Cold War Legacy

Beth A. Fischer

Virtually no one anticipated the ending of the Cold War. Understanding how this long-standing conflict was peacefully resolved can give us insight into how to conclude other seemingly intractable ... More

Virtually no one anticipated the ending of the Cold War. Understanding how this long-standing conflict was peacefully resolved can give us insight into how to conclude other seemingly intractable conflicts. Triumphalists believe that President Ronald Reagan “won” the Cold War by building up US military power and threatening the USSR. His hard-line policies forced Moscow to reduce its arsenal, adopt democratic reforms, withdraw from its war in Afghanistan, and ultimately collapse. Triumphalists assert that contemporary leaders should follow Reagan’s example bycompelling adversaries into submission. However, triumphalism is a myth, a series of falsehoods about Reagan’s intentions, his policies, and the impact his administration had on the USSR.Drawing upon American and Soviet sources,this book demonstrates that Reagan’s initial hard-line policies brought the superpowers to the brink of war and made it more difficult for Moscow to disarm and reform. Compellence failed miserably. The Cold War was resolved through diplomacy, not threats. President Reagan eventually engaged in dialogue so as to ease Moscow’s security concerns, build trust, and focus on the superpowers’ mutual interest in eliminating nuclear arms. For his part, Mikhail Gorbachev sought to end the arms race so as to divert resources to democratization. He too sought dialogue and trust. The ending of the Cold War demonstrates the importance of moral leadership. Reagan and Gorbachev both rose above their differences and introduced radical new ideas about nuclear disarmament. Consequently, both encountered domestic opposition. Each persevered, however, leading their nations toward a safer, more humane future.Less

North Korea and the World: Human Rights, Arms Control, and Strategies for Negotiation

Walter C., Jr. Clemens

With more than twenty-five million citizens, a secretive totalitarian dictatorship, and active nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs, North Korea presents some of the world’s most difficult ... More

With more than twenty-five million citizens, a secretive totalitarian dictatorship, and active nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs, North Korea presents some of the world’s most difficult foreign policy challenges. Given these circumstances, policy expert Walter C. Clemens Jr. argues that now is the time to reconsider U.S. diplomatic efforts in North Korea. In North Korea and the World, Clemens poses the question, “Can, should, and must we negotiate with a regime we regard as evil?” Weighing the needs of all the stakeholders—including China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea—he determines that the answer is yes. After assessing ten policy options, he makes the case for engagement and negotiation with the regime. There still may be time to freeze or eliminate North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction. Grounded in philosophy and history, this volume offers a fresh road map for negotiators and outlines a grand bargain that balances both ethical and practical security concerns.Less

Paving the Way for Reagan: The Influence of Conservative Media on US Foreign Policy

Laurence R. Jurdem

The book analyzes the influence of National Review, Human Events, and Commentary on the foreign policy ideas of the Republican Party from 1964–1980. During that eighteen-year period, the publications ... More

The book analyzes the influence of National Review, Human Events, and Commentary on the foreign policy ideas of the Republican Party from 1964–1980. During that eighteen-year period, the publications of conservative opinion provided ideological clarification on important national issues that played a fundamental role in reviving the political fortunes of the American Right, culminating in the election of Ronald Reagan. Those who wrote for these publications used their positions to offer suggestions to conservative policy makers that called for a more confrontational approach toward the Soviet Union and the nations that sought to compromise the United States’ interests around the world. In recommending a shift in foreign policy, Human Events, National Review, and Commentary assisted right-wing decision makers by contributing arguments to revive what these publications believed was a weak and indecisive United States that had become uncertain about its role in the world following the defeat in Vietnam. By criticizing policies, such as détente, or the aggressiveness of the Third World within the United Nations, opinion makers on the Right offered conservative political leaders information and analysis that called for the return of American power in the face of an ever more confident Soviet Union.Less

The Sailor: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Transformation of American Foreign Policy

David F. Schmitz

In The Sailor, David F. Schmitz presents a comprehensive reassessment of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's foreign policymaking. Most historians have cast FDR as a leader who resisted an established ... More

In The Sailor, David F. Schmitz presents a comprehensive reassessment of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's foreign policymaking. Most historians have cast FDR as a leader who resisted an established international strategy and who was forced to react quickly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, launching the nation into World War II. Drawing on a wealth of primary documents as well as the latest secondary sources, Schmitz challenges this view, demonstrating that Roosevelt was both consistent and calculating in guiding the direction of American foreign policy throughout his presidency. Schmitz illuminates how the policies FDR pursued in response to the crises of the 1930s transformed Americans' thinking about their place in the world. He shows how the president developed an interlocking set of ideas that prompted a debate between isolationism and preparedness, guided the United States into World War II, and mobilized support for the war while establishing a sense of responsibility for the postwar world. The critical moment came in the period between Roosevelt's reelection in 1940 and the Pearl Harbor attack, when he set out his view of the US as the arsenal of democracy, proclaimed his war goals centered on protection of the four freedoms, secured passage of the Lend-Lease Act, and announced the principles of the Atlantic Charter. This long-overdue book presents a definitive new perspective on Roosevelt's diplomacy and the emergence of the United States as a world power. Schmitz's work offers an important correction to existing studies and establishes FDR as arguably the most significant and successful foreign policymaker in the nation's history.Less

Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football since 1914

Heather L. Dichter (ed.)

The book explores the nexus of the world’s most popular sport and diplomacy, as a tool of the nation-state–based diplomacy, as diplomacy of soccer as a non-state actor, and via the relationship ... More

The book explores the nexus of the world’s most popular sport and diplomacy, as a tool of the nation-state–based diplomacy, as diplomacy of soccer as a non-state actor, and via the relationship between soccer and a variety of diplomatic actors in the subnational, national, and transnational context. Over the past century any number of states have sought to conduct diplomacy via soccer games, tournaments, and the sport’s governance structures, including the international governing body FIFA itself. FIFA’s tournaments, including its World Cup for men, youth players, or women, as well as regional tournaments provide numerous opportunities for diplomacy, from bidding for events to hosting them, and sending teams to tournaments to diplomatic reports about events, including how one’s country represented the state.Less

Thomas C. Mann: President Johnson, the Cold War, and the Restructuring of Latin American Foreign Policy

Thomas Tunstall Allcock

When launching the Alliance for Progress in 1961, John F. Kennedy promised that this new development program would transform Latin America into a community of modern, prosperous, and politically ... More

When launching the Alliance for Progress in 1961, John F. Kennedy promised that this new development program would transform Latin America into a community of modern, prosperous, and politically stable allies. Yet, when Richard Nixon ended the program ten years later, there was more evidence of broken promises, political coups, and covert military operations than of transformative cooperation. Sandwiched between Kennedy’s and Nixon’s presidencies, Lyndon Johnson’s marked a transformative era in inter-American relations as Johnson and his chief inter-American aide, Thomas C. Mann, struggled to deliver on their predecessors’ bold promises while grappling with the demands of Cold War national security. In this first in-depth study of Johnson, Mann, and Latin America in the 1960s, Thomas Tunstall Allcock provides a nuanced and balanced assessment of two often maligned yet hugely influential policy makers during this vital period. In demonstrating that Johnson and Mann were New Dealers, keen to operate as good neighbors and support Latin American development and regional integration, Tunstall Allcock illuminates the difficulties faced by US modernization efforts. Ranging from domestic challenges from both right and left to a series of military and political crises including riots in the Panama Canal Zone and the threat of “another Cuba” in the Dominican Republic, these difficulties would be handled with wildly varying degrees of success. In Tunstall Allcock’s account, Johnson and Mann emerge as complex, rounded figures struggling to overcome a host of challenges and their own limitations even as the flaws and shortcomings of US policy are laid bare.Less

Truman, Congress, and Korea: The Politics of America's First Undeclared War

Larry Blomstedt

This book analyzes the roles of the Harry Truman administration and Congress in directing American policy regarding the Korean War. Several themes are addressed. One is how Truman and the ... More

This book analyzes the roles of the Harry Truman administration and Congress in directing American policy regarding the Korean War. Several themes are addressed. One is how Truman and the congressional Democrats failed each other during the war. The president did not dedicate adequate attention to congressional relations early in his term and was slow to react to charges of corruption within his administration, weakening his party politically. For their part, the Democrats gave Truman poor advice concerning congressional involvement in the decision to take the nation to war. A number of them allowed their personal dislike for Secretary of State Dean Acheson to poison their support for the administration whenever U.S. fortunes in the war soured. Another issue was Truman’s interpretation and use of the concept of bipartisanship in foreign policy and his manipulation of the idea for political advantage. Ironically, had he listened to the counsel of an administration Republican early in the war, Truman could have mitigated the explosion over the firing of General Douglas MacArthur. A topic heretofore overlooked by historians concerns congressional peace initiatives proposed during the first half of the war. Analysis of the effectiveness of these resolutions, particularly during the heyday of McCarthyism, yields surprising conclusions.Less

Victorious Insurgencies: Four Rebellions that Shaped Our World

Anthony James Joes

Insurgencies, especially in the form of guerrilla warfare, continue to erupt across many parts of the globe. Most of these rebellions fail, but this book analyzes four twentieth-century conflicts in ... More

Insurgencies, especially in the form of guerrilla warfare, continue to erupt across many parts of the globe. Most of these rebellions fail, but this book analyzes four twentieth-century conflicts in which the success of the insurgents permanently altered the global political arena: the Maoists in China against Chiang Kai-shek and the Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s; the Viet Minh in French Indochina from 1945 to 1954; Castro's followers against Batista in Cuba from 1956 to 1959; and the mujahideen in Soviet Afghanistan from 1980 to 1989. The book illuminates patterns of failed counterinsurgencies that include serious but avoidable political and military blunders and makes clear the critical and often decisive influence of the international setting.Less