The Global Gamble Washington's Faustian Bid for World Dominance

by Gowan, Peter

• ISBN13: 9781859842713
• ISBN10: 1859842712
• Edition: 00
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-17
• Publisher: VERSO

Summary

In The Global Gamble, Peter Gowan argues that, since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the US government has been pursuing an attempt to construct a global empire--a unipolar world in which Washington can control and shape the pattern of economic and political change in all regions of the globe. Only by understanding this ambition can we grasp the dynamics of international politics and economics in the contemporary world. Gowan explores the origins and distinctive forms of Washington's imperial project, from the collapse of the Soviet bloc through to the Gulf War of 1991, developments in the European Union, the enlargement of NATO and East Asian financial collapse. He also explores the efforts of various neo-liberal intellectuals to legitimate the American project in terms of liberalism. He concludes that the US Faustian project is almost certainly doomed to failure and unless plans are made now for such an eventuality, the world could face grave and possibly catastrophic breakdowns early in the next century.

Author Biography

Peter Gowan is Senior Lecturer in European Studies at the University of North London.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
List of Acronyms and Terms	p. xiii
The Globalisation Gamble
Introduction	p. 3
'Capital Markets', Financial Systems and the Postwar International Monetary System	p. 8
The Dollar-Wall Street Regime	p. 19
The Evolution of the DWSR from the 1970s to the 1990s	p. 39
Power Politics, the DWSR and the Clinton Administration	p. 60
The Politics and Economics of the Panic of '98	p. 103
Conclusions	p. 126
Politics in the Globalisation Period
The Gulf War, Iraq and Western Liberalism	p. 141
The Theory and Practice of Neo-Liberalism for Eastern Europe	p. 187
Neo-Liberalism and Civil Society	p. 248
The Post-Communist Parties in the East	p. 260
The Enlargement of NATO and the EU	p. 292
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