The Right to Food: The Global Campaign to End Hunger and Malnutrition. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2020.

Food insecurity is among the greatest challenges in the world today.  This book examines the global campaign to end hunger and malnutrition.  Focus is placed on the work of the United Nations which has led international efforts to improve food security in the world’s poorest countries. The book first reviews the long-term project to establish access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food as a universally recognized human right.  This is followed by separate chapters that examine the nature and central causes of food insecurity in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. These chapters also review the contemporary work of three United Nations agencies – the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development – in providing emergency food aid in response to natural disaster and civil conflict, as well as longer-term food assistance to promote agricultural productivity, advance rural development, and preserve natural environments. The concluding chapter considers ways to strengthen food aid and assistance in the years to come.

 

Bilateral Aid to Latin America: Foreign Economic Assistance from Major Donor Nations. Amherst: Cambria, 2015.

Foreign economic assistance can play a significant role in the sustainable development of Latin American nations.  This book examines the economic assistance of six major donor countries– the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, and China – to the nations of Latin America.  Focus is placed on assistance that is structured to meet basic human needs, enhance social equity, promote economic growth, preserve natural environments, and support political reform.  The book highlights the similarities and differences among these bilateral assistance programs, explores the underlying motivations of each donor country, and evaluates the impact of bilateral assistance to Latin America.

“Provides a comprehensive and detailed account of the bilateral economic assistance of six major donor countries … and offers a foundation for understanding the nature and impact of such assistance.” Protoview

The United Nations in Latin America: Aiding Development, New York:  Routledge, 2010.

International institutions have made significant contributions to social and economic progress in Latin America.  This book reviews the United Nations development assistance to Latin America during the early years of the twenty-first century.  Focus is placed on the five subsidiary agencies that are most directly engaged in meeting the needs of the poor, improving the lives of women, and protecting natural environments:  The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).  Together these agencies have made important, though rarely recognized, contributions to the sustainable development of Latin America.

“This book is the first to analyze the development work of various UN institutions and agencies that sponsor economic and social programs in the developing world … a necessary addition for students and scholars of Latin American politics and Development.” Bookshelf/VitalSource

Deepening Democracy: Global Governance and Political Reform in Latin America, Westport: Praeger, 2003.

Although the transition from military to civilian rule was a significant advance in the political development of Latin America, governments throughout the region retain many of the characteristics of their authoritarian predecessors. This book examines the contributions of transnational inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations in deepening democratic institutions and practices in Latin America.  The United Nations has been at the forefront of international efforts to promote political reform in Latin America.  International financial institutions, most notably the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Inter-American Development Bank, have also crafted new initiatives to strengthen public sector institutions in the region.  The Organization of American States has helped establish representative democracy as a normative obligation among member states.  The efforts of transnational non-governmental organizations to enhance governance and empower popular constituencies are also reviewed in this volume.

“Adams does a wonderful job of analyzing the programs of the most relevant global actors, and he offers a critical analysis of the policies of each.” Diane E. Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“We welcome this book which puts Latin America in an international perspective.” Ronald Hilton, Stanford University

Dollar Diplomacy: United States Economic Assistance to Latin America, Aldershot: Ashgate/Routledge,  2000.

The United States has long sought to influence the course of political events in Latin America.  This book examines the evolution of United States economic assistance programs in Latin America and accounts for changes in the aid regime over the course of the past four decades.  While United States aid policy reflects developmental, political, and economic motivations, the relative weight of each motive can only be understood through close analysis of the broader historical context.  The book’s conclusion reviews the most pressing social and economic problems in Latin America and advances a set of policy recommendations for reforming United States assistance policy in the twenty-first century.

“This is a useful book. It provides a detailed and often critical overview of U.S. foreign aid policy …” Mark T. Berger, University of New South Wales

“The book is nicely suited to an introductory political-science course on US foreign policy. … Adams’s interpretation of the changing motivations behind USAID programmes is nevertheless compelling….” Tyler Priest, University of Houston

 Globalization and the Dilemmas of the State in the South, lead editor, New York: St. Martin’s, 1999.

Global economic integration poses a formidable dilemma for the Third World state.  While there are compelling external pressures to liberalize domestic economies, market-oriented reforms threaten the economic well-being of various societal groups.  Popular resistance to there reforms has been strong throughout the developing world.  This book examines the political strategies employed by Third World governments to maintain reform programmes in the face of domestic opposition.  These strategies have typically involved some combination of coercion and compromise.  The contributors describe and explain variation in the strategic choice through case studies from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

“This edited collection will be particularly useful for instructors looking for comparative materials that critically address questions of globalization, state practice, and resistance.” Sandra Rein, University of Alberta

From Economic Nationalism to Neo-Liberalism.  Ithaca: Cornell University, Latin American Studies Program, 1992.

Developing countries have transitioned from economically nationalist policies designed to insulate domestic economies from external economic pressures to neo-liberal policies that seek greater integration in global markets. This study, which was my doctoral dissertation, examines the foreign economic policies of developing countries in the later part of the twentieth century.  The empirical part of the study tests the relative ability of both international and domestic structural approaches to explain trade and investment policies in Venezuela and Jamaica between 1970 and 1990.  An alternative perspective that places greater emphasis on the relative autonomy of the state and the subjective beliefs and perceptions of individual decision-makers is advanced.