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Tom Long's "Latin America Confronts the United States" departs from the U.S.-centric studies of international relations in the Western Hemisphere by examining case studies in which smaller, weaker states achieve their foreign policy objectives despite the power asymmetry.
Dr. Long makes a convincing argument that both main schools of Latin American studies neglect the agency of Latin American states. The traditional, "Establishment" school sees this U.S. hegemony as a good thing, on the whole - partially shielding the region from the ruinous wars of the sort that shaped (and continue to shape) Europe, Asia and Africa under a regional Pax Americana. The "Revisionist" school accepts the Establishment school's assertion of U.S. hegemony as a basic, organizing principle, but finds this proximity to the U.S. to have a toxic, corrupting influence on the region. In both schools, U.S. foreign policy decides the terms of debate and the outcome, leaving Latin America to live with the consequences - for better (per the Establishment school) or worse (per the Revisionists).
In contrast to the prevailing schools, Dr. Long takes a more internationalist approach, presenting new archival materials outside of easily accessed U.S. sources to demonstrate the role that other governments take in achieving their foreign policy goals. The book is organized into four main case studies, followed by analysis: Brazil's political maneuvering to establish the Alliance for Progress, Panama's decade-plus long push to reframe the terms of debate on the Panama Canal Treaty, Mexico's initiative in starting and sustaining the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, and Colombia's reframing of its long-running war against the FARC in narcotrafficking terms.
The chapter on the Panama Canal Treaty stands out as the most compelling example, both for the remarkable power asymmetry and the magnitude of the achievement against powerful U.S. interests. My Grandfather, who saw the canal in military-strategic terms, often cursed President Carter for just "giving it away;" I now understand that Panama made some very astute political maneuvers to gain a vital national interest. Presented together in the analytic chapters, the case studies demonstrate the basic thesis: that Latin American governments can achieve their major foreign policy objectives vis-à-vis the U.S., even when U.S. objectives are initially opposed to those of the Latin American government.
On the whole, this book makes a valuable contribution to the field. Of course, there are limits to what a government can gain from a position of weakness versus the U.S. The 1954 CIA-sponsored coup in Guatemala and the invasions of Granada in 1983 and Panama in 1989 show that U.S hard power can have an overriding vote in hemispheric affairs. Just the same, studies of international affairs in the Western Hemisphere have been over-focused on U.S. foreign policy and agency. "Latin America Confronts the United States" brings a welcome new perspective.
- File Size: 1048 KB
- Print Length: 272 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1107547059
- Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 4 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 19, 2015)
- Publication Date: November 19, 2015
- Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B017205IUW
- Text-to-Speech:
Enabled
- Word Wise: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#951,206 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #1569 in International Relations (Kindle Store)
- #1536 in Caribbean & Latin American Politics
- #2372 in Federal Government
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