The Asian Crash of 1997 gave final closure to the era of Cold War geoeconomics. For decades American liberal capitalism had maintained an oddly symbiotic relationship with East Asia¡¦s far more centrist economies. The end of the Cold War, however, opened the door for full-thrust globalization on Washington¡¦s terms. At first, foreign investment and money market speculation stoked what looked like a new super-miracle on the Pacific Rim. Few took serious notice of how the lending binge of the mid-1990s recklessly expanded foreign debt relative to reserves. When the bubble broke in 1997, massive capital exodus sent the region into a ruinous plunge. The IMF took its time in responding, and finally applied a dubious rescue formula that helped to turn the Crash into a protracted Crisis. Taking the Crisis as a window on the politics of globalization, this study builds on the development theory of Amartya Sen. It follows from Sen¡¦s axiom of ¡§development as freedom¡¨ that just and sustainable development is best achieved where economic and political priorities are balanced in what I term the ¡§concurrence¡¨ approach to development. From this vantage the post-Crisis condition of the Rim was hardly more conducive to political development than was the pre-Crisis situation, for poverty can be as much a developmental roadblock as authoritarianism is. Neoliberal globalism could no longer hide behind the democratic veneer of ¡§third wave¡¨ or ¡§end of history¡¨ determinism. By the mid-1990s the specter of cultural anarchy already haunted much of the developing world outside the Rim, and the Crash threatened to expunge that crucial exception. Nor was this just a Third World dilemma. The socioeconomic efficacy of the whole capitalist system was on trial. In Sen¡¦s view, the Asian Crisis spotlighted the high cost of undemocratic governance. Asian exceptionalists held that Western liberal democracy was not needed in this high-growth sphere, and indeed would be a hindrance. Sen argues, however, that the cultivation of freedom, as both an end and means, is not just a Western imperative. Indeed, his expansive view of social well-being is rooted in Asian values. In lieu of the statist economism that was falsely identified as Asian values during the ¡§miracle¡¨ years, Sen proposes an ¡§Eastern strategy¡¨ that draws on the more humane dimensions of Asian development. He credits state interventions such as public education and land reform as major contributions not only to the ¡§Asian miracle¡¨ but to all sustainable development. Much more is involved in the Senian model than the slightly modified economism that has appropriated the ¡§Third Way¡¨ label. This study draws positive and negative cases in point from the development records of the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea. While all three countries were hard hit by the Crash and the subsequent Crisis, each reacted in its own way. What they had in common, however, was the undertow effect of neoliberal globalization, whereby foreign capital and policy constraints eroded their effective autonomy. Unfortunately, Sen¡¦s attention to the glaring inequalities of global capitalism is not matched by much attention to the transnational corporations (TNCs) that dominate the global economy. Likewise he has tended to neglect crucial postmaterial issues such as cultural and environmental sustainability. Useful as his informational strategies are for averting social catastrophies such as famine, he fails to adequately contest the political, cultural, and environmental inroads of globalization. For that it is necessary to move beyond the pallid globalism of Sen¡¦s own politics. The paradoxical task of this study, therefore, is to free the Senian model from Sen himself.

During the last 15 years, the former “star pupil” of the Washington Consensus, Argentina, has witnessed a dramatic turn of international economic regime. Having pursued a markedly neoliberal economic agenda previous to the 2001 financial crisis, external and internal factors now suggest a structural shift in Argentine politics. Using regime theory and theoretical concepts by international relations theorist Evelyn Goh, this study investigates the implications of a changing US hegemony on Argentine compliance with the leading international economic regime of the unipolar world order.

[pt] A adoção de políticas econômicas neoliberais de matriz americana,conjuntamente, pelos países latino-americanos, a partir da década de 80, passou a ser denominado de Consenso de Washington. A natureza de tamanha unanimidade, presente entre países de realidades econômica, social e política tão diversas foi motivo de questionamento por vários autores, tendo em vista a falta de originalidade do conteúdo dessas políticas econômicas. Defende-se, neste trabalho, a posição de que a grande novidade apresentada por este Consenso foi, justamente, a adoção conjunta de suas medidas e o discurso legitimador e universalizante que as promoveu, elementos atribuídos a uma revolução intelectual. É identificada, assim, a importância do papel das ideias enquanto influenciadoras das políticas governamentais. Papel este, que esta dissertação trata sob o arcabouço teórico de neogramscianos como Robert Cox e Stephen Gill, a partir da concepção desses autores de hegemonia, estabelecida por um país, numa sociedade civil global em formação, através das suas bases materiais e sociais, dentre estas, a ideologia. No caso brasileiro, um elemento especial é apresentado como facilitador da incorporação das diretrizes neoliberais hegemônicas, conformadoras do Consenso de Washington, no país: transnacionalização dos meios dirigentes em macroeconomia. O que esta dissertação objetiva demonstrar é que o trânsito dessa elite de economistas por organismos internacionais, notadamente norte-americanos, tende a aproximá-los de seus posicionamentos, além de conferir-lhes maior notoriedade. Esta notoriedade, por sua vez, aumenta as chances desses profissionais ocuparem cargos no governo. Uma vez ocupando esses cargos, maior a probabilidade de aplicarem as políticas econômicas importadas do país hegemônico, como aquelas reconhecias por caracterizarem o Consenso de Washington. / [en] The adoption of neoliberal economic policies of american patterns by latin-american countries in their entireness since the 80s has been called the Washington Consensus. The nature of such entirety among such different economic, social and political countries has been questioned by many authors as regards the lack of originality in these policies.The adoption of these policies by latin-american countries in their entireness and the universalizing and legitimating discourse that has promoted it, which has derived from an intelectual revolution, stand for the greater novelty of this Consensus.Thus, the ideas, in their influencing feature upon governmental policies, have been identified. This feature is here supported by neogramscians works as in Robert Coxs and Stephen Gills. Their hegemony conception is that one established by a country in a civil global society through its material and social bases, as for ideology.In Brazil, there is a special element which facilitates the incorporation of the neoliberal directions of the Washington Consensus: the transnationalization of the macroeconomy directing sectors. This work aims to demonstrate how this economists elite passage through international organisms, mainly north American, tends to draw them near to their positions as well as confer them greater evidence.This evidence, at its turn, enlarges the chances for these professionals to take offices. Once in office, the more probable it is for them to apply the economic policies, imported from the hegemonic country, as those known as the Washington Consensus ones.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / This thesis discusses key aspects of the democratization process in post-Castro Cuba following a destructive and chaotic transition of power. The theories of leading democracy and economic theorists are applied to the post-Castro conflict scenario as relevant issues to be addressed by a new Cuban government and the United States in a Cuban transition to democracy. Additionally, the ongoing U.S. efforts in Iraq provided a unique window of opportunity for further scrutiny of democratization theory as select lessons learned from the rebuilding of Iraq are compared to the future democratic transition of Cuba. Even though this thesis took this unique perspective in the democratic transition environment, the resulting research and analysis supported existing theories about the intertwining of political and economic development. The major distinction appears to be the need for greater flexibility in the process, post-conflict, due to the ambiguity involved. What needs to be fixed or rebuilt in Cuba will depend on the severity of damage to the political and economic infrastructure. The theorists selected have been helpful in opening doors for what is relevant during the rebuilding and democratization process, but as was expected, there is not a definitive process to achieving democracy and a free-market economy. / Major, United States Army

Thesis advisor: Sarah Babb / In the early 1990s, at the height of the Washington Consensus, its hegemonic model of neoliberal development was strongly challenged by Japan, the U.S.’s greatest ally. The key event characterizing this challenge occurred when Japan’s Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) began criticizing the World Bank’s famous Structural Adjustment Loans (SALs). This subsequently led to the publication of the “East Asian Miracle Report” by the World Bank financed by the Japanese government. This poses a great puzzle considering Japan’s historically submissive and politically deferential relationship with the U.S. since the end of World War II. I address two questions in my thesis to solve the above puzzle: (1) why did the Japanese state choose to oppose American ideological hegemony in the 1990s? (2) how did the ideas involved in this challenge develop within and beyond the institution of Japanese policy bureaucracy? The theory and methods used in this paper are inspired by the historical institutionalist tradition in sociology and political science. I argue that the shift in Japan’s foreign aid strategy in the late 1980s was driven by a mixture of economic, institutional and political factors. This along with the escalating influence of the Washington Consensus and its interference with Japanese aid policy, drove Japan to oppose American ideological hegemony in the 1990s. Furthermore, tracing the policy discourses of the OECF during this period revealed that not only economic and political factors, but also the developmentalist idea that valued the central role of the state in its economic development was essential in instigating Japan’s construction and promotion of its own development model. I conclude that Japan’s challenge was both a local and a global social construct, developed in the processes of transnational interaction with other states and their actors, and drawing on internationally available economic ideas. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

This thesis focuses on the changing modes of state intervention into the economy in neoliberalism. It contends that the so called free market is neither a natural process nor an inevitable result of the harmony of interest, but the result of a deliberate political making process. The global economic crisis provided ample evidence to refute the claim that state and market are separately existing and antagonistic entities and indicates that the issue is not the market or the state, since the state in a capitalist society is equally subordinate to capital, simply providing an alternative mode of regulation of capital accumulation. The state has always been essential for &quot / proper&quot / workings of the market, especially for the interests of capital and the neoliberal state is not an exception

Military spending briefly dipped in the early 1990s only to rebound by the end of the 20th century, yet policymakers and academics alike predicted a peace dividend if the cold war should end. What happened to this peace dividend? How do some countries actualize a peace dividend in a world that seems not to encourage one? Typically military spending is analyzed through lenses focusing on international politics, bureaucratic process, or domestic political economy. I argue that these three lenses have failed to account for some of the reasons military spending remains high in the post-cold war era. Utilizing sociological institutionalism and world models, I examine how the rules of the Washington consensus via the neo-liberal economic agenda and the national security exception promote high levels of military spending that the three main theories fail to recognize. This study particularly delves into the roles of states and transnational corporations in terms of competitiveness in the global political economy and privileges allotted to the military industry. My tests rely on fuzzy-set comparative qualitative analysis (fsQCA) as an innovative means for looking at necessary conditions as well as sufficient conjunctural causation through which countries can achieve a peace dividend in the post-cold war era.

No description available.

The main objective of this study is to analyse Trade Policy of PRC in Sub-Saharan Africa in a comparison with an approach of western countries. Moreover describe causes of dynamically developing Sino-African cooperation in last fifteen years, when China became a strategic business partner of many countries in the region at the expense of western countries which in the past represented traditional business partners of Sub-Saharan countries. First part describes period of economic reforms in China which started remarkable economic growth and helped the country to become one of the world trade superpowers. Then it defines characteristics of Sub-Saharan Africa which influence international trade relations of the region, both in a positive and negative way. Second part summarize trade between Sub-Saharan Africa and China describing history of trade relations and current territorial and commodity structure of the trade. Third part analyses PRC Trade Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa which is based on principles of Beijing Consensus. This part provides a comparison of different approach of China and western countries (their approach is based on Washington Consensus) towards their business partner in Sub-Saharan Africa. Afterwards, it summarizes different tools of China's trade policy in this region, which are then demonstrated on case studies of Angola and Nigeria.

This thesis attends the problem of institutional and political structure in a post-war economy of Lebanon. Lebanon was one of the countries in the Near east, which tried to apply principles known as Washington consensus. On this case we try to demonstrate the problem which appeared also in other countries of the world, where the same set of principles was applied and it was the insufficient attention dedicated to the issue of informal networks. We pay special attention to a confessional system in Lebanon which is based on division of powers on the basis of religion. This type of political structure produces creation of informal networks which substitute state apparatus and instigate corruption. The thesis proposes a modification of Lebanese system which will treat the institutional background with greater attention.