The Economic Origins of the “War on Terror”

2020 ◽  
pp. 8-38
Author(s):  
Navin A. Bapat

The U.S. was in a position of economic and military hegemony after World War II. However, by the early 1970s, the U.S. dollar depreciated following President Richard Nixon’s abandonment of the gold standard. To fight this problem, Nixon offered indefinite military protection from all of their enemies to all oil-producing states, if those states agreed to denominate their oil sales exclusively in U.S. dollars. This agreement reestablished the U.S. as the world’s sole superpower. At the turn of the millennium, U.S. dominance faced challenges from al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s decision to abandon the dollar in favor of the euro in oil sales. The war on terror began as an effort to eliminate each of these threats. Following the Iraq war, the U.S. seemed to establish control and alliances with all of the world’s key suppliers of energy, along with the states serving as transit routes.

Author(s):  
Jeffrey Severs

This chapter demonstrates the deep importance of Wallace’s collegiate study of U.S. economic policy, especially in the Great Depression, to his early short stories. What if, I ask, we locate Wallace’s “origins” not in the post-World War II moment or 1960s ironic postmodernism, but instead in the crash of 1929, a less predictable moment of cultural crisis in which he took a quieter but subsuming interest? Key elements that emerge in this chapter are the U.S. Treasury (surreally portrayed as the issuer of a post-gold-standard currency – and post-metaphysical meaning – in the uncollected gem “Crash of 69”) and, in “Westward,” the governmental remedies of social insurance and economic reconstruction in the New Deal. While attending more briefly to other stories in Girl With Curious Hair, this chapter also provides sustained readings of Dust-Bowl metaphysics in “John Billy” and Johnson’s Great Society in “Lyndon.”


2020 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
Burhanettin Duran

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic and foreign policy agendas of all countries have been turned upside down. The pandemic has brought new problems and competition areas to states and to the international system. While the pandemic politically calls to mind the post-World War II era, it can also be compared with the 2008 crisis due to its economic effects such as unemployment and the disruption of global supply chains. A debate immediately began for a new international system; however, it seems that the current international system will be affected, but will not experience a radical change. That is, a new international order is not expected, while disorder is most likely in the post-pandemic period. In an atmosphere of global instability where debates on the U.S.-led international system have been worn for a while, in the post-pandemic period states will invest in self-sufficiency and redefine their strategic areas, especially in health security. The decline of U.S. leadership, the challenging policies of China, the effects of Chinese policies on the U.S.-China relations and the EU’s deepening crisis are going to be the main discussion topics that will determine the future of the international system.


2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard K. Fleischman ◽  
R. Penny Marquette

The impact of World War II on cost accountancy in the U.S. may be viewed as a double-edged sword. Its most positive effect was engendering greater cost awareness, particularly among companies that served as military contractors and, thus, had to make full representation to contracting agencies for reimbursement. On the negative side, the dislocations of war, especially shortages in the factors of production and capacity constraints, meant that such “scientific management” techniques as existed (standard costing, time-study, specific detailing of task routines) fell by the wayside. This paper utilizes the archive of the Sperry Corporation, a leading governmental contractor, to chart the firm's accounting during World War II. It is concluded that any techniques that had developed from Taylorite principles were suspended, while methods similar to contemporary performance management, such as subcontracting, emphasis on the design phase of products, and substantial expenditure on research and development, flourished.


Author(s):  
Amanda L. Tyler

The Introduction begins by exploring modern examples sanctioning the concept of the citizen enemy combatant, such as the War on Terror cases of José Padilla and Yaser Hamdi. It then suggests that the roots of this concept may be found in the World War II detention of Japanese Americans, including over 70,000 U.S. citizens. The Introduction continues by arguing that this modern conception of the citizen enemy combatant is impossible to reconcile with the historic understanding of the Suspension Clause and the habeas privilege that trace their origins to English legal tradition, an understanding that remained consistent well through Reconstruction. The Introduction concludes with an overview of the book.


1992 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Higgs

Relying on standard measures of macroeconomic performance, historians and economists believe that “war prosperity” prevailed in the United States during World War II. This belief is ill-founded, because it does not recognize that the United States had a command economy during the war. From 1942 to 1946 some macroeconomic performance measures are statistically inaccurate; others are conceptually inappropriate. A better grounded interpretation is that during the war the economy was a huge arsenal in which the well-being of consumers deteriorated. After the war genuine prosperity returned for the first time since 1929.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-204
Author(s):  
Ozum Yesiltas

This study investigates the growing influence of Middle Eastern non-state actors as agents of foreign policy and their interactions with states through an analysis of the U.S.-Kurdish relationship. Incorporating archival data and interviews with Kurdish and American policy makers, the paper analyses the factors that have affected the U.S.-Kurdish relationship from World War II to the recent Syrian crisis in the context of the mainstream theoretical approaches within the discipline of International Relations. The article concludes that the failure to formulate a coherent Kurdish policy complicates the U.S.’ Middle East strategy and contributes to outcomes unfavourable to U.S. interests in the region.  Abstract in Kurmanji Hêza ji kenaran : Pêşniyara bo siyaseteke derveyî ya hevgirtî ya Dewletên Yekbûyî yên Amerîkayê li hemberî Kurdan Ev lêkolîn tesîra her ku diçe mezin dibe ya aktorên ne-dewletî li Rojhilata Navîn wek failên siyaseta derve, digel danûstandinên wan bi dewletan re, li ser hîma tehlîla têkiliya DYA û Kurdan vedikole. Bi vehewandina daneyên arşîvî û hevdîtinên li gel siyasetmedarên kurd û amerîkî, ev nivîsar nêrînên bîrdozî yên herî berbelav di  babetaTêkiliyên Navneteweyî de bi kar tîne, ji bo ku faktorên bandor li têkiliyên DYA-Kurd ji Şerê Cîhanê yê Duyem heta qeyrana surî ya dawîn  kirine, tehlîl bike. Nivîsar bi vê encamê digihîje ku têkçûna sazkirina siyaseteke kurd a hevgirtî ji bo stratejiya DYA ya li Rojhilata Navîn zehmetiyan derdixe û netîceyên neyînî bo berjewendiyên DYA jî bi xwe re tîne. Abstract in Sorani Hêzê Sînoran: Kurdan Reyde Mesela Sîyasetê Teberî yê DYA yê ‘Pêgirewteyî’ Pê analîzê têkilîya DYA û kurdan, no cigêrayîş Rojhelato Mîyanên de tesîrê averşîyayoxî yê aktoranê bêdewletanê sey ajananê sîyasetê teberî û dewletan reyde înteraksîyonanê nê aktoran tehqîq keno. Bi dayeyanê arşîvan û roportajanê qerardaranê sîyasetî reyde, no nuşte faktoranê ke Cengê Cîhanî yê II. ra heta krîzê Sûrîye yê nikayinî têkilîya DYA û kurdan ser o tesîr kerdo, ê faktoran çarçewaya teorîyanê bingeyênan yê beşê Têkilîya Mîyanneteweyî de analîz keno. Na meqale netîce de vana ke DYA besenêkerd polîtîkayêka kurdan a pêgirewtîye virazê, na kêmanîye kî Rojhelato Mîyanên de stratejîya DYA kena têmîyan û peynîye de faydeyê xo nêreseno menfeatanê DYA yê a herême. Abstract in Zazaki Destellat le kenarewe : keysêk derbarey hawrrayî le siyasetî derewey Emerîka da beramber be Kurdekan Em nûsîne le karîgerî geşesendinî hêzwektere bê-netewekan le ser siyasetî Rojhellatî Nawerrast da dekollêtewe, legell peywendiyan legell dewlletekan da le rêgayi şirovekirdinî peywendî nêwan wîlayete yekgirtwekanî Emerîka û Kurdekan da. Be têkellkirdinî datay erşîf û çawpêketin legell siyasetmedare emerîkî û Kurdekan da, em nûsîne şirovey ew fakterane dekat ke karîgeryan le ser peywendî nêwan wîlayete yekgrtwekanî emerîka û Kurdekan da hebuh le cengî cîhanî duwemewe heta qeyranî tazey Suriya, le çwarçêwey têore berbillawekan le zanistî peywendiye nîwdewlletiyekan da. Encamî wutareke eweye ke be hoy şikesthênan le dirustkirdinî siyasetêkî yekgirtû beramber Kurdekan, astengî bo planî Wîlayete Yekgrtwekanî Emerîka le Rojhellatî Nawerrast da dirust dekat û debête hoy dirustbûnî derencamî nerênî le qazancî Wîlayete Yekgirtwekanî Emerîka le nawçeke da.


PMLA ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 124 (5) ◽  
pp. 1886-1895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Taylor

On 27 February 2009, The Essays for this PMLA issue on war were coming in, against a background of various wars. The Iraq War had claimed over 100,000 civilian lives. The newly elected Obama administration vowed to amp up efforts in Afghanistan. The rubble in Gaza still smoldered from the recent Israeli attacks. The ongoing conflict in Darfur had already left 300,000 people dead, not to mention the 2.5 million displaced. When President George W. Bush left office, his boundless war on terror had exacted more lives, money, civil-liberty concessions, and international goodwill than one could even begin to tally. These were just the newsworthy wars that happened to be featured that month in the New York Times. Other, “low-intensity” wars—the devastating fighting in East Congo, the ongoing Zapatista uprising, Colombia's fifty-year-old armed conflict, Sri Lanka's civil war, and similar struggles—simmered on the back burner. The topic of war seemed as urgent that February morning as it had two years earlier, when the editors proposed this special issue. Ironically, that morning's Times showcased “Weekend at War” in its Escapes section (Sokol). The oversize image showed a crowded ballroom full of happy dancers in World War II outfits swinging to a big band orchestra—the uniforms, insignia, hats, hairdos all conjured up another time. The caption read, “It's winter 2009, but for hundreds of reenactors, it's December 1944 at the Battle of the Bulge.”


Author(s):  
R. Goldman ◽  
R. Peterson

In the early 1970s, gas turbine technology had reached the stage where it became feasible to consider marinization of state-of-the-art aircraft engines. Approximately concurrently with these technological advances, the U.S. Navy had the need to project replacements for many of its conventionally propelled surface ships of World War II vintage. Characteristics of good fuel economy coupled with potentially viable reliability and maintenance characteristics conditioned the development of main and auxiliary gas turbine prime movers for ships. Ship design, therefore, was strongly influenced by previously unavailable power plant characteristics. New ships are building and others actively being designed to draw upon these technological advantages, and a broad base of support is being established to ensure the continued long range mobility of the U.S. Navy’s ships.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 324
Author(s):  
Zheming Zhang

<p>With the continuous development and evolution of the United States, especially the economic center shift after World War II, the United States become the economic hegemon instead of the UK and thus it seized the economic initiative of the world. After the World War I, the European countries gradually withdraw from the gold standard. In order to stabilize the world economy development and the international economic order, the United States prepared to build the economic system related with its own interests so as to force the UK to return to the gold standard. The game between the United States and the UK shows the significance of economic initiative. Among them, the outcome of the two countries in the fight of the financial system also demonstrates a significant change in the world economic system.</p>


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