Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World Development

by Isbister, John

• ISBN13: 9781565492165
• ISBN10: 1565492161
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781626376861
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-10-15
• Publisher: Lynne Rienner
• More Book Details

Summary

* Updates include discussion of major initiatives such as the Millennial Development Goals, (MDG) to eliminate global poverty * Examines changes in international politics and approaches to global terrorism following the US-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq * Extensively revised facts and figures The seventh edition of this perennial stalwart of the Kumarian Press list continues the discussion of the 'new American hegemony' and the 'war on terror' that began with the previous edition. In particular, Isbister addresses changes in international politics and the impact on the global order of the US-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The author also focuses on major initiatives, such as the UN's Millennium Development Goals, to confront the issue of world poverty. As with all editions of this vibrant text, Isbister writes with clarity and passion, not only about failed promises, but about hope, human potential, and the belief that a just and equitable world system is attainable.

Author Biography

John Isbister is a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He received his doctorate in economics from Princeton University in 1969, then joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, as a founding fellow of Merrill College, which concentrates on the study of the third world. In addition to all the editions of Promises Not Kept, He is the author of two other Kumarian Press books, The Immigration Debate: Remaking America and Capitalism and Justice.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(6)
A World of Poverty	7	(23)
Five Lives	7	(8)
The Third World	15	(1)
The Extent of World Poverty	16	(6)
The Successes	22	(1)
Different Areas of the Third World Diverge	23	(2)
The Betrayal of Responsibility	25	(5)
Explanations of Underdevelopment	30	(35)
Modernization Theory	32	(9)
Dependency Theory	41	(7)
Marxism	48	(8)
Limitations of These Approaches	56	(2)
Why Does Poverty Persist?	58	(2)
Assessment	60	(2)
The Theories as Worldviews	62	(3)
Imperialism	65	(36)
The Creation of the European Empires	66	(9)
The Causes of Imperialism	75	(5)
The Culture of Imperialism	80	(6)
The Foundations of Third World Poverty	86	(9)
The Population Explosion	95	(2)
The Legacy of Imperialism	97	(4)
Nationalism and Independence	101	(45)
The Origins of Third World Nationalism	102	(4)
The Indian Subcontinent	106	(3)
China	109	(4)
Vietnam	113	(4)
Algeria	117	(4)
Muslim and Jewish Nationalism	121	(4)
Islamic Fundamentalism	125	(2)
Sub-Saharan Africa	127	(5)
Latin America	132	(6)
The Nationalist Identity	138	(3)
The Legacy of Nationalism	141	(5)
Economic Development	146	(43)
What Is Economic Development?	147	(5)
Population Control	152	(5)
False Paths to Economic Development	157	(20)
Development in the 1980s: Waylaid by the Debt Crisis	177	(4)
Into a New Century: Rediscovering the Market and Exports	181	(3)
Non-governmental Organizations	184	(1)
The Millennium Development Goals	185	(4)
Foreign Policy	189	(37)
The End of the Cold War	190	(1)
Foreign Policy During the Cold War: Globalism	191	(2)
The New American Hegemony	193	(2)
The War on Terrorism	195	(3)
The Illusion of the North-South Dialogue	198	(2)
A Constructive Foreign Policy	200	(3)
Military Spending and Policy	203	(7)
Human-Rights Policy	210	(6)
Foreign Economic Policy	216	(6)
Can the Rich Cooperate with the Poor?	222	(4)
The Future: Justice in an Age of Globalization	226	(13)
Globalization	227	(7)
A Hope for Partnership	234	(5)
Bibliography	239	(9)
Acknowlegments	248	(3)
Index	251	(22)
About the Author	273