This book, which was originally David Gibbs' PhD disseratation is perhaps the most ludicrous work ever produced in the history of academia. Gibbs claims that the US intervention in the Congo following their indepedence was motivated entirely by investor Maurice Templesman's interest in the Congolese Diamond mines. According to Gibbs, after Kennedy's election in 1960 the US stepped up its intervention in the Congo since Tempelsman and Kennedy were close, and he thus influenced the Administration to intervene to ensure that the Diamond mines would be controlled by the US. Gibbs downplays the US interest in preventing Communist or Soviet influence in the region. In fact, Gibbs has stated elsewhere that covert operations like the on in the Congo are not kept secret in order to keep it from foreign governments, but to prevent America's own citizens from finding out about it! Tempelsman in fact wrote a respone MIT in which he ridicules this slander, noting that one man cannot create US policy, even if he wanted to. Gibbs, in his characteristic cynical fashion, proudly hangs the letter on the door to his office. This excuse for an academic work somehow got Gibbs a job at the University of Arizona's Department of Political Science where he continues to teach his paranoid conspiracy theories to young students, many of whom unfortunately start believing it. Among other gems by David N. Gibbs include his statement that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 posed no threat to the US, that the US coups in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954 were influenced by narrow business interests in oil and bananas respectively, and that all US foreign policy is controlled by business interests who use their power to get the US Government to do their bidding. Never in the history of International Relations theory has such an absurd theory been postulated. Even Radical theorists like Gabriel Kolko view US policy as tailored to the general needs of capitalism, but not to individual companies. Meanwhile, Gibbs continues to hurt our young students minds with his toxic waste. The University of Arizona should be ashamed to have him in their department, and hopefully he will not get tenure for the nonsense he writes or else more young minds will be harmed.

This book is based on the Business Conflict Model, which Gibbs uses to explain US foreign policy in developing nations. As you may have guessed, the model assumes that all foreign policy to third world nations is based on private business interest. It is us policy to protect American interest abroad. Usually that includes business investment and such. Anyway the book uses one approach to understand US policy , while also offering that other approaches are not as useful.