TWILIGHT STRUGGLE: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990 [Hardcover]

Robert Kagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996

A prominent architect of Latin American policy in the Reagan Administration presents a detailed history and analysis of the Nicaraguan Revolution and the American response to it, including the arming of the Contra rebels.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Robert Kagan, an adviser on Central American policy in the Reagan administration, offers a sharply critical history of what he perceives to be American missteps in Nicaragua during a time of revolution. A tiny and politically inconsequential country, Nicaragua occupied a front-burner place in negotiations between the United States and Soviet Union, even when neither party seemed to care much about the ultimate fate of that nation. In the end, the Reagan doctrine of containment ended in failure, as an avowedly Marxist government held power for more than a decade. But so, too, did the Soviet doctrine of expansionism yield no fruit. Kagan credits Costa Rican president Oscar Arias with finding a way to break the impasse in U.S.-Soviet-Nicaraguan relations, thanks to which the Bush administration restored full diplomatic exchange and negotiated the free elections that brought democratic forces to power in Managua.

From Publishers Weekly

Kagan contends that the Carter administration's halfhearted intervention in Nicaragua was in response to American feelings of guilt for Washington's longtime support of the Somoza dynasty. The Reagan-era intervention, on the other hand, originated in American anxiety over Soviet encroachment in the Western hemisphere. Kagan recounts how American popular aversion to the employment of U.S. military muscle in Central America led to the administration's covert support of the contras and goes on to explain how the clash between the Reagan White House and Congress over "freedom fighter" funding led to the Iran-contra affair in 1987. Although the surprising electoral victory of Violeta Chamorro over the Sandinistas was widely recognized as a success for American policy, the U.S. remains caught in a continuous cycle of intervention and withdrawal in Nicaragua, according to Kagan. As a member of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff, Kagan was a direct participant in many of the events described in this authoritative and definitive account of U.S.
Nicaragua relations from 1977 to 1990.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 928 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Printing edition (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028740572
• ISBN-13: 978-0028740577
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > History > Americas > Central America > Nicaragua

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Complete, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: TWILIGHT STRUGGLE: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990 (Hardcover)

A very describetive account of USA intervention in Nicaragua begginning with The Knox Letter ending with the closing of the Iran-Contra scandal. Before picking up this book you should relize that it is very long and VERY detailed; however, it is very interesting if you are at all interested in the cold war. (note: also helped raised my SAT vocabulary score to a 700)

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and factual, January 19, 2001

By 

"lawrenceoftexas" (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: TWILIGHT STRUGGLE: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990 (Hardcover)

This is probably the best book I've seen about Nicaragua and the Cold War during the 1980's. I did a research project there for several months and found Kagan's book to be very helpful and very accurate. Too bad it's out of print.