Neighborly Adversaries

Readings in U.S.Latin American Relations

Edited by Michael J. LaRosa, Frank O. Mora

Not available to order

Publication date:

19 March 2015

Length of book:

390 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442226470

The history of U.S.–Latin American relations has been characterized by a complex fusion of tensions, collaboration, misperceptions, and intervention. Offering a balanced and interdisciplinary interpretation, this comprehensive reader traces the often-troubled relationship from the beginnings of the nineteenth century to the presidency of Barack Obama. Completely revised and updated, this third edition includes original essays on critically important issues such as immigration, the environment, and the Obama administration’s policy toward the region. In addition to this added policy section, another new section explores cultural issues such as tourism, soccer, and the media.

The readings are framed by the editors’ opening chapter on the history of the relationship, introductory essays for each of the seven parts, and abstracts for each selection. Students who use this book will learn that U.S.–Latin American relations have been deeply influenced by dynamic, continuously evolving scholarly interpretations in both hemispheres. Sixteen years after the first edition was published, the editors are more optimistic as the hemisphere unites around trade, culture, tourism and an evolving mutual appreciation. Methodologically interdisciplinary, yet comparative and historical in organization and structure, this text will benefit all readers interested in the rich historical, social, and political “American” relationship.

Preface and Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Contentious Neighbors in the Western Hemisphere
Michael La Rosa and Frank O. Mora
Part I: Disparate Perceptions: Expansionism Versus Arielism
2.The Ango-Saxon and the World’s Future
Josiah Strong
3. Our America
José Martí
4. Mark Twain
Philip Foner
5. Ariel
José Enrique Rodó
Part II: The Monroe Doctrine and Origins of U.S. Expansionism
6. The Monroe Doctrine, 1823-1826
Dexter Perkins
7. The Platt Amendment of 1901
8. The Real Monroe Doctrine
Elihu Root
9. Autopsy of the Monroe Doctrine: The Strange Story of Inter-American Relations
Gaston Nerval
Part III: From TR to FDR: Interventionism and the Good Neighbor Policy
10. Leonard Wood and the White Man’s Burden
Lester D. Langley
11. Development of the Panama Policy in the Caribbean and Central America (1902-1936)
Samuel Flagg Bemis
12. An Address to Congress on the Mexican Crisis (April 20, 1914)
Woodrow Wilson
13. The Making of the Good Neighbor Policy
Bryce Wood
Part IV: Cold War Arrives in Latin America
14. The Impact of the Cold War on U.S.-Latin American Relations, 1945-1949
Roger R. Trask
15. Latin America as a Problem in U.S. Foreign Policy
George Kennan
16.The Hovering Giant: U.S. Responses to Revolutionary Change in Latin America
Cole Blasier
17.Did Eisenhower Push Castro into the Arms of the Soviets?
Alan Luxenberg
Part V: Conflicting Aims in U.S.-Latin American Relations: The Late 20^th Century
18.The Alliance That Lost Its Way: A Critical Report on the Alliance for Progress
Jerome Levinson and Juan de Onis
19.U.S.-Latin America Trade: Recent Trends and Policy Issues
J. F. Hornbeck
20. Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime in the Americas: Major Trends in the 21^st Century
Bruce Bagley
Part VI: Contemporary Policy Trends in U.S.-Latin American Relations
21. Post-Cold War U.S. Latin American Policy: The Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations
Frank O. Mora
22. Environmental Concerns Facing the U.S. and Mexico: An International Perspective
Matthew C. LaFevor
23. Waiting on Reform: A Brief History of U.S.-Latin American Immigration
Lance R. Ingwersen and Michael J. La Rosa
Part VII: Contemporary Cultural Trends: U.S.- Latin American Relations Enter the 21^st Century
24. Unfulfilled Promises: Mexico’s Complicated Century of Soccer
Joshua H. Nadel
25. No Mere Backyard: Latin American Television from Dictatorship to Democracy
Andrew Paxman
26. Safe Travels: Tourism and Security in Post-Insurgency Peru
Teresa E. P. Delfin
27. By Way of Conclusion: Neither Neighborly Nor Adversarial: An Evolving American Relationship
Michael J. LaRosa and Frank O.Mora
Selected Bibliography
Credits
Index
About the Contributors

Two established scholars of U.S.–Latin American relations offer a new and updated edition of their useful, multidisciplinary review of major issues and perspectives in Western Hemisphere relations from the Monroe Doctrine of the early nineteenth century to the policies of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations in the early twenty-first century. Students will be able to discern from these well-selected contributions how many of the underlying premises and policies of the United States toward Latin America have endured, even as the region, the international environment, the United States itself, and the major issues on the agenda of U.S.–Latin American relations have fundamentally changed.