The Empire Trap: The Rise and Fall of U.S. Intervention to Protect American Property Overseas, 1893-2013

by Noel Maurer

How the United States became an imperial power by bowing to pressure to defend its citizens' overseas investments

Throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. government willingly deployed power, hard and soft, to protect American investments all around the globe. Why did the United States get into the business of defending its citizens' property rights abroad? The Empire Trap looks at how modern U.S. involvement in the empire business began, how American foreign policy became increasingly tied to the sway of private financial interests, and how postwar administrations finally extricated the United States from economic interventionism, even though the government had the will and power to continue.

Noel Maurer examines the ways that American investors initially influenced their government to intercede to protect investments in locations such as Central America and the Caribbean. Costs were small―at least at the outset―but with each incremental step, American policy became increasingly entangled with the goals of those they were backing, making disengagement more difficult. Maurer discusses how, all the way through the 1970s, the United States not only failed to resist pressure to defend American investments, but also remained unsuccessful at altering internal institutions of other countries in order to make property rights secure in the absence of active American involvement. Foreign nations expropriated American investments, but in almost every case the U.S. government's employment of economic sanctions or covert action obtained market value or more in compensation―despite the growing strategic risks. The advent of institutions focusing on international arbitration finally gave the executive branch a credible political excuse not to act. Maurer cautions that these institutions are now under strain and that a collapse might open the empire trap once more.

With shrewd and timely analysis, this book considers American patterns of foreign intervention and the nation's changing role as an imperial power.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, American History, Politics

568 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2013

Reviews

[YHC · Rating 3 out of 5]

一、为什么叫帝国陷阱？ 一旦美国某届政府承诺代表美国投资商出面予以干涉，以保护其在海外的财产等权益，那么未来的政府要想避免此类干涉就更加困难。如果某位总统令人信服地承诺动用美国的强大势力保护在外国的美国财产权益，那么，这个国家可预见到的投资风险就会降低，更多的资本就会大量涌入。未来的政府可以拒不履行含蓄的承诺，但是这样一来必须带来政治成本，政治成本越大，投资商拥有的财富所面临的风险就越高。简言之，代表海外投资商进行的成功干涉，将引致更大的海外投资；而这些更大的海外投资一旦受到危险，又会制造成更大干涉压力。结果就是一个「帝国陷阱」，而落入这个陷阱，美国政府就会发现，他们很难抵抗保护美国海外财产利益的强大压力。 二、资本操作陷阱的方式 20 世纪的美国投资商，在压制国内反对派和战略利益方面普遍获得成功。他们所运用的特定政治战略随时时间的推移也已发生变化。20 世纪初期，海外投资商绝大部分都是动用个人的政治关系以影响政策。随着帝国陷阱这一模式开始实施，个人政治关系变得更容易。20 世纪 30 年代，投资商开始运用更为复杂的战略，将保护他们的利益与政府当时高度重视的其他利益联系在一起。第二次世界大战之后，投资商们鼓动公众和国会舆论，向行政部门施加压力。这些公司试图将国家利益，如反对共产主义，与他们的财产权益捆绑在一起，争辩说，保护他们的收入来源，对否认敌对国家诸如此类的收入来源发挥了有益的影响作用。美国各类公众认为，没收他们同胞的财产，就是针对美国的攻击和损害。其他公众担心，一个国家对美国财产的没收得到允许，其他国家可能会随之效仿，如此这样，在某个时刻，所受到的经济损失有可能高达一定程度，足以影响到公众他们自己的利益。诸如此类的担心并不一定是现实，它们只需要被人们相信。干涉成本往往都是分摊，范围覆盖全社会，借助了所有这些战略，海外投资商正是从这一事实中受益。 三、帝国陷阱经历的三个阶段 美国非正式的帝国，在整个 20 世纪没有因总统的更迭而不断地移动，反而出现了两次明显的兴起与衰落。20 世纪初期，当政治压力迫使美国政府必须保护其国家的海外利益时，第一个「帝国」出现了，这一时期美国政府更多地使用武力手段来解决问题。当大萧条摧毁了维系该帝国的政治联盟时，这个非正式的帝国就此寿终正寝。第二轮经济利益驱动的干涉行动崛起于 20 世纪 30 年代后期，一直持续到 80 年代。第二个「帝国」的地域范围更加广阔，受到富于挑战的反共产主义的影响，而且几乎不可能圈入直接的军事干涉；但是，第二个帝国（与第一个类似）也使得投资商操纵了美国政治系统，且常常相当成功，或者保护他们的投资，或者确保他们的损失获得赔偿。第二个帝国并没有彻底地终结，而是被司法化的争端解决机制所取代，私人投资者发现，司法化争端解决机制的制定与发展，与求得华盛顿的支持一样极具吸引力。这也是帝国陷阱的第三个阶段。

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