Background
Ratliff, William Elmore was born on February 11, 1937 in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Son of Harold Shugart and Marjorie (Elmore) Ratliff.
(P>Forty years ago Asia and Latin America were at similar ...)
P>Forty years ago Asia and Latin America were at similar levels of economic development. This is no longer true, however, for reforming East and Southeast Asian countries, periodic problems notwithstanding, have made long strides toward the developed world. Meanwhile, most of Latin America, after the reform euphoria of the 1990s, is passing through yet another of its periodic crises. Serious economic development in much of Asia has reduced poverty and inequality; in Latin America sustained economic growth and effective institution building have rarely occurred, and the region is falling ever farther behind the rest of the developing world. One critical factor in Asia’s success has been its universal, increasingly high-quality education systems, particularly at the primary and secondary levels, that have enabled most people to promote their own well-being and contribute to national development. The high quality of Asian education is evident in international testing that finds reforming Asian countries at the head of the class. Latin Americans, in contrast, when they even dare to participate in such testing, come out at or near the bottom. Why the difference? Because although both regions began with rigid, elitist traditional ideas and institutions, Latin Americans have been much less willing or able or both to adapt and transform their past in order to participate more productively in the modern world. Latin American leaders have not chosen to undertake deep and lasting reform, and the Latin American people, to the degree that they have any voice in the matter, have not demanded such changes. It is in U.S. interests to support education reform in Latin America because doing so will promote development and stability there and thus more productive relations between north and south. But we should do so only when the region’s leaders demonstrate the will to undertake substantive change and commit the resources to make it happen.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817944524/?tag=2022091-20
( During the 1980s, Americans ranging from Congressmen to...)
During the 1980s, Americans ranging from Congressmen to political pilgrims tended to view and deal with Nicaragua's Sandinistas and the Contra War according to their own personal and political agendas. The Civil War in Nicaragua Is unique among the dozens of books on these events, because it gives an inside view of what was going on, how and why policies were made by Nicaragua's new clique of nine, and what Impact those policies had on Nicaragua, the United States, and beyond. With their seizure of power in 1979, the Sandinistas had an unprecedented opportunity to improve the lot of the Nicaraguan people. How they ultimately betrayed their countrymen and left the region worse off than they found It Is the hidden story related here. Miranda and Ratliff locate the source of failure and betrayal in three critical factors: absolute power and oppression of the nine-man National Directorate; the unnecessary, ideologically driven conflict with the United States; and statist economics pursued to reward support and suppress dissent. The authors divide their analysis into six parts. The first discusses the Sandinistas' institutional structures and controlling personalities, with an emphasis on the Ortega brothers. The second focuses on the Sandinistas' world view and use of deception to achieve their objectives, and on their allies, in particular Cuba and the Soviet Union. The third scrutinizes their attitudes to and relations with the United States. The next two discuss the institutional framework of domestic control and the Sandinista doctrines of war and peace that were played out In the Contra War. Miranda and Ratliff conclude with an analysis of factors leading to the collapse of the Saridinista regime. Its ouster in the free elections of 1990, and the early years of the Chamorro government. As this volume makes clear, the crisis in Nicaragua has not ended with the Cold War. Many contradictions remain. And sound American policy is still necessary to further the growth of democracy there and throughout Latin America. The Civil War in Nicaragua will be essential reading for policymakers, historians, and political scientists.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560000643/?tag=2022091-20
( During the 1980s, Americans ranging from Congressmen to...)
During the 1980s, Americans ranging from Congressmen to political pilgrims tended to view and deal with Nicaragua's Sandinistas and the Contra War according to their own personal and political agendas. The Civil War in Nicaragua Is unique among the dozens of books on these events, because it gives an inside view of what was going on, how and why policies were made by Nicaragua's new clique of nine, and what Impact those policies had on Nicaragua, the United States, and beyond. With their seizure of power in 1979, the Sandinistas had an unprecedented opportunity to improve the lot of the Nicaraguan people. How they ultimately betrayed their countrymen and left the region worse off than they found It Is the hidden story related here. Miranda and Ratliff locate the source of failure and betrayal in three critical factors: absolute power and oppression of the nine-man National Directorate; the unnecessary, ideologically driven conflict with the United States; and statist economics pursued to reward support and suppress dissent. The authors divide their analysis into six parts. The first discusses the Sandinistas' institutional structures and controlling personalities, with an emphasis on the Ortega brothers. The second focuses on the Sandinistas' world view and use of deception to achieve their objectives, and on their allies, in particular Cuba and the Soviet Union. The third scrutinizes their attitudes to and relations with the United States. The next two discuss the institutional framework of domestic control and the Sandinista doctrines of war and peace that were played out In the Contra War. Miranda and Ratliff conclude with an analysis of factors leading to the collapse of the Saridinista regime. Its ouster in the free elections of 1990, and the early years of the Chamorro government. As this volume makes clear, the crisis in Nicaragua has not ended with the Cold War. Many contradictions remain. And sound American policy is still necessary to further the growth of democracy there and throughout Latin America. The Civil War in Nicaragua will be essential reading for policymakers, historians, and political scientists.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560007613/?tag=2022091-20
Ratliff, William Elmore was born on February 11, 1937 in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Son of Harold Shugart and Marjorie (Elmore) Ratliff.
Bachelor, Oberlin College, 1959. Master of Arts, University Washington, 1968. Doctor of Philosophy, University Washington, 1974.
Research fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford, California, 1968-1979;
consultant, director research, Research International, San Francisco, 1976-1982;
critic, chief editorial writer, Times Tribune, Palo Alto, California, 1979-1986;
senior research fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford, since 1986. Music stringer Los Angeles Times, 1975-1995, Opera News, 1978-1993. Consultant, lecturer United States Information Agency, Washington, 1986, 88, 89, 90.
Lecturer unites states department Defense conferences/seminars, Washington, since 1984.
( During the 1980s, Americans ranging from Congressmen to...)
( During the 1980s, Americans ranging from Congressmen to...)
( Judicial reform is essential in Latin America today if ...)
(P>Forty years ago Asia and Latin America were at similar ...)
(Communications, Political Science, Latin American Studies)
(Book by Ratliff, William)
Married Lynn Louise Robbins, June 1959. Children: Sharon, Paul, Susan, David, John.