Description
Book SynopsisShows that bankers dread war - an aversion rooted in pragmatism, not idealism. This book also shows that, when faced with the prospect of war or international political crisis, national financial communities favor caution and demonstrate a marked aversion to war.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2008 Best Book Award, International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association "The book is richly rewarding and full of insights into the behind the scenes power plays that lay behind the major, and far reaching, policy decisions reviewed through the five case studies."--Richard C. K. Burdekin, EH.net "Scholars have long debated the role of bankers and businesspeople in matters of war and peace. Some claim that states frequently go to war in search of markets and profits, whereas others see economic interests as the great constituency for peace. In this richly historical and wonderfully written book, Kirshner provides the definitive account of the policy preferences of the financial community in countries on the brink of hostilities."--Foreign Affairs "[T]his is a most stimulating book; attractively written, and demonstrating a thorough grasp of all the wide-ranging historical circumstances that it treats."--Forrest Capie, The International History Review "Appeasing Bankers is a must read for students and scholars of international finance. Kirshner provides evidence of the historically consistent and global regularity of the financial destructiveness of war, and a compelling case for the pacific preferences of bankers that should prompt further study of additional cases."--Anastasia Xenias, Political Science Quarterly "Kirshner's book is interesting as it avoids multifaceted liberal concepts but rather sticks to one key argument based on rich historical accounts. As such, this book should interest any student of globalization and any scholar questioning the role of bankers and financiers in war and peace."--Lars Seland Gomsrud, Journal of Peace Research "Kirshner is able to construct a well-theorised, thoroughly researched study on how the financial community reacts to the possibility of war. This in itself is no small feat, as it convincingly contradicts various theories that indict finance as the catalyst of Western imperialism."--Patrick Shea, Political Studies Review
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix CHAPTER 1: What Does Finance Want? 1 CHAPTER 2: Ourselves Alone: Financial Opposition to the Spanish-American War 31 CHAPTER 3: Meet the New Boss: The Rise of the Military and the Defeat of Finance in Interwar Japan 58 CHAPTER 4: Interwar France: Your Money or Your Life 89 CHAPTER 5: "National Security Rests on the Dollar": The Early Cold War and Korea 122 CHAPTER 6: Taking One for the Team? Finance and the Falklands War 154 CHAPTER 7: Speculations: Finance, Power Politics, and Globalization 203 Index 227
