Reviews for Bound by war : how the United States and the Philippines built America's first Pacific century
Kirkus
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The mostly painful history of the U.S. and its struggling ex-colony. MIT history professor Capozzola writes that events in Cuba provoked America’s declaration of war on Spain in 1898. Few paid attention to its Asian colonies until the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, led by George Dewey, annihilated the Spanish fleet off its Philippines colony. American officials believed that an imperial power such as Britain or Germany would certainly take over if America didn’t. There followed a nasty war in which American forces (and locally recruited units) suppressed the Filipino independence movement. Capozzola notes that the American promise of eventual independence was sincere, and the colonial administration set up a local political infrastructure. This was done on the cheap, however, so Filipinos who benefited most serviced Americans or came to the U.S. Racist immigration laws in the U.S. banned Asians, but the Philippines, as a colony, was an exception. Readers can skim the author’s account of World War II, which is largely unedifying. At the time, most Filipinos gave survival priority over resistance. Guerrilla activity slowly grew, but rival groups often fought each other, and many were little better than bandits. The most efficient, the Hukbalahap, were communists. At the end of the war, the Philippines was a devastated nation with no Marshall Plan to rebuild it. As a final insult, Congress, in an economic move, denied Filipino soldiers the GI Bill of Rights. The U.S. granted independence in 1946; supported Manuel Roxas, the collaborationist president under Japanese occupation who won the first presidency; and signed a pact granting 23 military bases free from local criminal laws and taxes. Capozzola convincingly argues that the nation remains a quasi-colony, impoverished and ill-governed. Its leaders understood that America favored nations threatened by communism and, later, terrorism. Even today, it hosts America’s “largest counterterrorist deployment outside of Afghanistan.” U.S. presidents have spoken highly of several despotic kleptocrats, led by Ferdinand Marcos. Today’s Rodrigo Duterte, a violent figure, is favored by Donald Trump. An expert, disturbing history. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
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MIT history professor Capozzola (Uncle Sam Wants You) delivers a comprehensive chronicle of the military alliance between the U.S. and the Philippines. After partnering with revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1898 Spanish-American War, U.S. Navy commander George Dewey claimed that he had never promised the Philippines—which was ceded to the U.S. in the Treaty of Paris—its independence. Aguinaldo disagreed, and American forces, fighting with the help of allied indigenous troops, eventually defeated Filipino insurgents in 1902. In the early 20th century, American officials sought to establish the Philippines as a showplace of enlightened colonialism and a projection of U.S. power in Asia. Plans for the archipelago’s defense from Japanese invasion in WWII proved woefully inadequate, and Filipino and American soldiers died side by side in the Bataan Death March. The Philippines finally gained its independence in 1946, and U.S. armed forces and intelligence agencies maintained a substantial influence on the island nation, partnering with local forces to battle communist rebels during the Cold War and Muslim jihadists after 9/11. Capozzola musters an impressive array of source material to document these mutually entwined military histories and the impact of U.S. geopolitics and immigration reform on the Philippines. Readers will savor this detailed study of an underexamined aspect of American foreign policy. (May)
Library Journal
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In this thorough accounting of the military relationship between the United States and the Philippines, Capozolla (history, MIT; Uncle Same Wants You) effectively traces the complicated, often conflicted relationship between the two countries throughout the years, beginning with the Spanish-American War in 1898. The narrative covers the American colonization of the Philippines, which began in 1898 and lasted until 1946, when the country declared independence. In this comprehensive history, the author describes pivotal events that affected the relationship between the two countries, such as the Bataan Death March during World War II as well as Filipino efforts to assist the United States during the Cold War and after the September 11 attacks. The book also explores how both countries responded as Filipinos emigrated to America for work, and are often overrepresented in the U.S. military. This is more than a story of American militarism and racism; Capozolla is correct when he states that his account is a history of foreign relations as much or more than of foreign policy. VERDICT It's difficult to imagine a better book about this often-overlooked, yet important relationship between two countries. Capozzola makes history accessible, and tells his story exceedingly well.—David Keymer, Cleveland
