Highway diplomacy : interregional connections and international relations

Abstract

This dissertation shows that global infrastructure is created by interaction among intermediary groups. These groups are part of an Intermediary Sector of the World Economy that has evolved in scale during the last three hundred years from city to multinational and functions to facilitate infrastructure development. The idea of an Intermediary Sector is supported by documentation from previously unpublished archival material of Thomas H. MacDonald, Head of the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads from 1919 to 1953, and from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. International highway development in the early twentieth century is examined to answer the question, 'how does global infrastructure develop?' Documentation shows that international interaction was used to create a model of development for extensive national systems of automotive highways during the early twentieth century. The interaction was accomplished by networking among intermediary organizations to promote national economic integration and to promote national industries and financial services abroad. Further documentation reveals the origins of participating intermediary groups. The groups include chambers of commerce from 1599 to the 1920s, agencies of government that act as liaison to industry and commerce, industrial trade organizations, and groups representing individuals as taxpayers and motorists. Based on this documentation the advancement in scale of planning from city to multinational is defined by the dates of origin for local, national, international, and multinational chambers of commerce. The dissertation is structured around three questions: (1) was there global participation in international highway development; (2) was there a period of syndication of ideas to determine the model of development; (3) what was the underlying process supporting the conceptualization of the model. International interaction began in 1908 with the First International Road Congress. By 1930 about 80 countries were in agreement on user's taxes as a means of supplementing income tax and reducing property taxes...