Unravelled Dreams addresses the history of the pursuit of sericulture (silk production) in the Atlantic world, attempted by Spanish, French, British, and American empires and populations between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. It shows that in spite of repeated failures, silkworms were at the cutting edge of Atlantic imperialism. By taking the commercial failure of silk seriously, historicising it, and examining the numerous experiments (large and small) across New Spain, New France, many small corners of northern Europe, and especially British North America and the early United States, we can locate new insights into the determinative matrix of aspiration, labour, environment, and economy in these societies. Each devised its own dreams and plans of cultivation, framed by the compound particularities of cultures and landscapes. Writ large, these dreams would unravel one by one: the attempts to introduce silkworms to new regions around the Atlantic world – powered by Europeans’ consuming appetite for their fibre – ultimately constituted a step too far, marking out the limits of Europeans’ seemingly unbounded power. That they were bewildered by this failure, and for over three hundred years sought to counter environmental and demographic odds stacked against them, turning from one site to another, and mobilising every theory and workforce that they could muster, was a profoundly energising force. It opened up creative models of colonialism, exchange, domestic production and regional interconnection – some of which would disappear altogether, some fall into myths that would be recycled, and others which would become spurs to more commercially successful projects as people, policies, and ideas were recycled from silk to other more competitive and achievable products.

Unravelled Dreams: Silk and the Atlantic World, 1500–1840

This dissertation explores the relationship between informational asymmetries and costly conflict in the international system. While it is well-known that information asymmetries may cause conflict, little research explores the origins of such asymmetries. This dissertation explores the role of intelligence, diplomacy, and military strategy in revealing information. I show that, under broad conditions, states will often fail to disclose information about themselves and fail to gather information about their opponents. In consequence, the ability to gather information does not undermine the link between uncertainty and war.

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Essays on Information and Conflict

This article examines the mostly neglected anti-Chinese movement that, supported by Mexico's official post-revolutionary party, persecuted and finally expelled a large majority of Mexico's Chinese community. The article analyzes the trajectory of this racial movement from its origins as a social and political movement to its incorporation within the new orthodoxy of the post-revolutionary state. In particular, it examines the relevance of anti-Chinese racism and ideology for the resolution of the hegemonic struggle between the two dominant Sonoran caudillos Plutarco Elias Calles and Alvaro Obregon. Secondly, it considers the importance of anti-Chinese ideology and actions for the creation of consent in the “unstable equilibrium” that shaped Mexican politics between 1928 and 1934. Finally, this article examines the epistemological compatibility between anti-Chinese ideology, the “cultural revolution” of Mexico's post-revolutionary regimes, and the racial understandings and sentiments of the mestizaje theories informing Mexican revolutionary nationalism. The article suggests that a reconsideration of race offers a better theoretical understanding of Mexican state formation and the cultural processes through which social identities take form in interaction with the state, its institutions and discourses. The treatment of race as a political problem also contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms and processes that transform diffuse racial sentiments, perceptions and expectations into militant and politically organized racial movements.

Anti-Chinese racism, nationalism and state formation in post-revolutionary Mexico, 1920s–1930s

In this paper, I argue that delegating diplomacy allows for credible diplomatic communication by constraining leaders’ ability to bluff. I show that leaders will optimally choose diplomatic agents who place value on the interests of their host countries. Such diplomats will only oppose foreign government policies when revision to those policies provides large benefits to the home country. Consequently, when diplomats transmit messages, this action indicates that the home country values the issue highly, increasing the likelihood of concessions. I show formally that the optimal diplomat is always biased towards foreign interests because the gain in credibility offsets the diplomat’s occasional failure to support the leader’s position. However, the optimal diplomat’s bias is constrained because leaders will choose to preserve some ability to bluff. As an illustration of the results, I discuss Anglo-American diplomacy during the Wilson administration, focusing on the role played by Ambassador Walter Hines Page.

Diplomacy Through Agents

I. The Evolution of the Law of Recognition until 1913 To state that the United States imperialistically meddled in Mexican internal affairs in 1913 would scarcely surprise the scholarly community. The theme of United States imperialism in Latin America has been the subject of dispassionate scholarship and patriotic diatribes. Regardless of their perspective, writers have generally focused upon the political, social, strategic, and economic aspects of intervention. Considerably less attention has been given the United States' creative use of international law to affect the internal stability of Latin American nations. This article will contribute to bridging this gap by analyzing the manner in which Woodrow Wilson used the law of recognition to unseat Mexico's dictator, Victoriano Huerta; a man Wilson considered unfit to govern.

Woodrow Wilson, Victoriano Huerta, and the Recognition Issue in Mexico

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The Diego Ramírez Visita in Meztitlán

WITH THE RECENT OPENING Of the British archives, new information has become available concerning the reaction of Sir Edward Grey to President Woodrow Wilson's Mexican policy. Grey's guideline in determining the British course of action was the avoidance of any difficulty with the United States. Therefore, although he deemed the American policy unwise and made an effort to change Wilson's attitude toward President Huerta, Grey nonetheless tried to co-operate with the United States. As Arthur Link has pointed out, Wilson's distrust of Sir Lionel Carden, the British Minister in Mexico, made Grey's task more difficult.' The new documents also provide some interesting sidelights on the change in Wilson's view of the Mexican problem. In the autumn of 1913 Wilson, on the basis of a completely unrealistic assumption, expected Huerta to hold free elections in October. But instead, on October 10 and 11, Huerta surrounded the Chamber of Deputies, imprisoned 110 of its members, and took over dictatorial powers. Wilson not surprisingly concluded that Huerta was unfit for the presidency. Unfortunately for Anglo-American co-operation, Carden arrived in Mexico City during the coup and ostentatiously presented his credentials to the usurper. He then proceeded to compound his felony by telling reporters that Mexico needed a strong man as president.2 Convinced by Carden's actions that England was determined to frustrate his Mexican policy, Wilson plainly told the British

Wilson, Grey, and Huerta

Obras completas del maestro Justo Sierra. Tomo II, Prosa Literaria.@@@Obras completas del maestro Justo Sierra. Tomo IV, Periodismo politico.

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Walter V. Scholes

Papers

The Diego Ramírez Visita in Meztitlán

Wilson, Grey, and Huerta

Obras completas del maestro Justo Sierra. Tomo II, Prosa Literaria.@@@Obras completas del maestro Justo Sierra. Tomo IV, Periodismo politico.

Planes políticos y otros documentos

Gran Bretaña, los Estados Unidos y el no reconocimiento de Obregón