[…] His latest book, “A World Safe for Commerce” takes a comprehensive examination of U.S. foreign policy from the Revolution to China’s rise. […]
“A World Safe for Commerce” is an engaging history of U.S. foreign policy that uncovers how the motives of American leaders were frequently less benign than most Americans think: “Even if they cloak their policies in the warm and fuzzy language of liberalism and freedom, and occasionally find themselves trapped by it, they are careful calculators of national security through the lens of commercial power.”
Copeland recounts that Britain’s harsh mercantilist restrictions pushed the American revolutionaries into their war for independence. The ideology of liberty only gained momentum when the first shots were fired. The Wars of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War and numerous interventions in Latin America and Asia were all fought to safeguard and expand the U.S. sphere of economic interests.
The U.S. came close to war with Britain in 1916, but ultimately declared war on Germany when it became the greater threat to U.S. trade with Europe and Latin America. The massive expansion of U.S. power during World War II was primarily driven by the imperative to ensure access to global markets in order to counter the threat of Axis dominance over Eurasia.
The U.S. economic containment policy against the Soviet Union initiated the Cold War, while the lifting of U.S. sanctions played a crucial role in facilitating Gorbachev’s efforts to bring about its end. Trade expectations and classic geopolitics also explain the wars in Korea and Vietnam. Läs presentationen