US hegemony and the Americas: power and economic statecraft in International Relations

摘要

The first thing to note about Arturo Santa-Cruz's new book is that it is intended as a contribution to International Relations (IR) theory. This is worth underscoring because, even amid a growing movement for a more 'global' approach to International Relations, studies of US-Latin American relations tend to be read as region-alist, more so than studies of US relations with other parts of the globe. But that is what Santa-Cruz, professor at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, sets out to do in his study of the economic dimensions of US hegemony. He sees US international economic relations with Latin America-more specifically, with the subregions of North, Central and South America-as case-studies of the larger dynamics of US hegemony. The book dwells on conceptualizations of hegemony and power. Santa-Cruz seeks to understand how US-led hegemony in the western hemisphere has been constituted, as well as how it has varied across time and geography. Though he recognizes a mix of 'consent and coercion' in US policies (p. 32), Santa-Cruz argues that US hegemonic leadership has been accorded a substantial degree of acceptance, legitimacy and authority from other states in the hemisphere and beyond.