This book is about Anglo-American involvement in the reopening of the border controversy between Guyana, formerly British Guiana, and Venezuela. The dispute over the border commenced in the mid-nineteenth century when Venezuela asserted a claim to some two-thirds of the territory of the British colony. Great Britain’s refusal to refer the delimitation of the border to arbitration developed into a major crisis in Anglo-American affairs in 1895. The United States had assessed the issue as a major challenge to the Monroe Doctrine and it would provoke the two English-speaking powers close to military conflict. In 1899, an arbitral tribunal met in Paris and agreed unanimously on the boundary line between British Guiana and Venezuela. That boundary line has been universally accepted. In 1962 at the height of the Cold War, Venezuela repudiated the award claiming that it was a “political deal”. Fidel Castro had assumed power in Cuba and there were anxieties about the spread of Communism in the Americas, particularly in British Guiana during the pre-independence premiership of Marxist oriented Cheddi Jagan. Cedric Joseph examines the primary documents relating to the diplomacy of the administrations of John F Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. He explores their special relationships, sympathies and acute predisposition towards Venezuela that permitted the reopening of the boundary issue and ultimately sacrificed the territorial integrity of Guyana. He also establishes the collusion between Suriname’s claim to territory in Guyana and the Venezuelan claim.

Based on a thorough examination of government documents, congressional debates and reports, private papers of government and business leaders, and newspapers, David M. Pletcher begins this monumental study with a comprehensive survey of U.S. trade following the Civil War. He goes on to outline the problems of building a coherent trade policy toward Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The study concludes by analyzing a series of abortive trade reform efforts and examining the effects of the Spanish-American War. Pletcher rejects the long-held belief that American business and government engaged in a deliberate, consistent drive for economic hegemony in the hemisphere during the late 18OOs. Instead he finds that the American government improvised and experimented with ways to further trade expansion.

This paper was the dissertation submitted in 1996 to complete her Master of Arts Degree in Latin American Studies at the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) of the University of London. It sought to provide a scholarly account on the circumstances under which the nineteenth century Anglo-Venezuelan territorial dispute on the Esequibo region was resolved, . However, its main purpose is to discuss to what extent the events leading to the arbitration of 1898, and the arbitration decision itself, can be considered at the same time a victory to the United States, the last triumph to the declining British presence in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the greatest failures in the history of the Venezuelan foreign policy

How do established powers react to growing competitors? The United States currently faces a dilemma with regard to China and others over whether to embrace competition and thus substantial present-day costs or collaborate with its rivals to garner short-term gains while letting them become more powerful. This problem lends considerable urgency to the lessons to be learned from Over the Horizon. David M. Edelstein analyzes past rising powers in his search for answers that point the way forward for the United States as it strives to maintain control over its competitors. Edelstein focuses on the time horizons of political leaders and the effects of long-term uncertainty on decision-making. He notes how state leaders tend to procrastinate when dealing with long-term threats, hoping instead to profit from short-term cooperation, and are reluctant to act precipitously in an uncertain environment. To test his novel theory, Edelstein uses lessons learned from history’s great powers: late nineteenth-century Germany, the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, interwar Germany, and the Soviet Union at the origins of the Cold War. Over the Horizon demonstrates that cooperation between declining and rising powers is more common than we might think, although declining states may later regret having given upstarts time to mature into true threats.

A comprehensive encyclopedia covering the close ties between Britain and the whole of the Americas, examining Britain's cultural and political legacy to the nations of the New World. From Vikings to redcoats, from the Beatles to the war in Iraq, Britain and the Americas examines Britain's cultural and political legacy to the nations of the Americas. This comprehensive survey also traces how the Americas have in turn influenced contemporary Britain from the Americanization of language and politics to the impact of music and migration from the West Indies. Complete with an extensive introduction and a chronology of key events, this three-volume encyclopedia contains introductory essays focusing on the four prime areas of British Atlantic engagement—Canada, the Caribbean, the United States, and Latin America. Students of a wide range of disciplines, as well as the lay reader, will appreciate this exhaustive survey, which traces the common themes of British policy and influence throughout the Americas and highlights how Britain has in turn benefited from the influence of American democracy, technology, culture and politics.