Posted: Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Richard W. Maass, assistant professor of political science, has signed a contract with Cornell University Press for the publication of his book, currently titled Annexation: How Democracy and Xenophobia Limited U.S. Territorial Expansion (title may change).

The culmination of nearly 10 years of research and writing, this book examines why the United States annexed the territories it did (e.g., Louisiana, Florida, California) and equally importantly, why it did not annex the territories it didn't (e.g., Canada, Mexico, Cuba). Based on 23 case studies of U.S. foreign policy decision-making between 1775 and 1898,

Maass argues that the pattern of U.S. territorial expansion was most constrained not by material factors, but rather by the domestic political and normative consequences of annexing large alien populations.

With a final manuscript deadline set for January 2019, expect the book to be available later next year.

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