1st Edition

Competing for Integration Japan, Europe, Latin America and Their Strategic Partners

    This study demonstrates why the global economy and global policies can only be understood by assigning equal importance to actors from different continents and international institutions. The contributors begin by examining the effects of reducing trade barriers through the WTO processes, and the implications for our understanding of market forces, the diminishing capacity of governments, consumer power, and the role of international agreements. They provide fascinating details on how the European Union and Japan develop their own strategies toward emerging Asian and Latin American states, quite separately from the United States.The focus then shifts toward integration processes in Latin America. The book concludes by attempting to make sense of the political principles underlying the complex economic policies of the main actors in today's global economy, focusing on development strategies offered by the World Bank.

    This book is ideal for any introductory American history instructor who wants to make the subject more appealing. It's designed to supplement a main text, and focuses on "personalized history" presented through engaging biographies of famous and less-well-known figures from the colonial period to 1877. Historical patterns and trends appear as they are seen through individual lives, and the selection of the profiled individuals reflects a cultural awareness and a multicultural perspective.

    Biography

    Kurt W. Radtke is Professor of Japanese and Chinese Studies at Waseda University, Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Tokyo. Marianne L. Wiesebron is Assistant Professor of History at the