Luis L. Schenoni

Luis L. Schenoni, an associate professor at University College London and expert on Latin American political history, dives into how wars shaped state formation in 19th-century Latin America. He discusses the coercion-extraction cycle, illustrating how taxation and conscription strengthened bureaucratic capacity. Schenoni critiques the anti-Bellicist tradition and presents a nuanced view of how individual battles influenced legitimacy and tax morale. He draws compelling comparisons between Argentina's rise and Paraguay's collapse, revealing the profound long-term impacts of warfare on state development.