Territoriality and the Westernization Imperative: Antecedents and Consequences

Chang (a former Secretary to the Treasury of Guyana, member of the board of the Guyana Central Bank, and United Nations Development Program consultant) analyzes US and (to a lesser extent) Israeli policy in the Middle East during the George W. Bush years through a theoretical perspective that synthesizes John Kenneth Galbraith's discourse on power and Robert Ardrey's notion of the territorial imperative, broadly understood to include the drive to gain access to and maintain property rights. In addition to analyzing the manifestations of territoriality in the operations of condign (military) power, he also discusses the purposes of compensatory and conditioned powers such as foreign aid and trade agreements within the context of territoriality. In the end, he argues that US policy in the Middle East is guided by a territorial imperative to contain an emerging China. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Claude V. Chang, a former United Nations Development Program (UNDP) consultant, is an International Development Economics and Privatization Consultant and teaches World Politics at Johnson and Wales University. Dr. Chang was Secretary to the Treasury of Guyana and member of the Board of the Guyana Central Bank. He served as a Member of the Governing Council of the University of Guyana. He is published on privatization, competition and regulations.