National Security and United States Policy Toward Latin America

About this book

"Schoultz has written much the most interesting interpretation of U.S. policy toward Latin America that I have ever read.... It should be read by everyone seriously concerned about U.S. foreign policy. Written in a style that makes it fully accessible, the book will appeal to both the specialist and the layperson.... The author examines the beliefs that have underlain U.S. policy toward Latin America, concentrating on the obsession with security that has figured so strongly in that policy. The result is superb-political analysis, but also military analysis, at its best." -Richard H. Ullman, Princeton University In Washington and in local communities throughout the United States a sense of confrontation on U.S. policy toward Latin America is reaching dramatic proportions. Congress is bitterly divided, executive deliberations are plagued by bureaucratic guerrilla warfare, and interest groups vigorously mobilize support at the grass-roots level, a tactic previously unknown in the long history of inter-American relations. Lars Schoultz here proposes a way for all those interested in U.S. foreign policy to appreciate fully the terms of the present debate. To understand U.S. policy in Latin America, he contends, one must critically examine the deeply held beliefs of U.S. policy makers about what Latin America means to U.S. national security. Does Latin American instability result from Communist adventurism, as most policy makers thought during the years immediately following World War II? And does this instability radically threaten U.S. national security interests? What dangers are posed to the U. S. by Soviet bases in Latin America, particularly in Central America? Based on interviews with 290 policy makers in a variety of positions, this frank but objective book traces the acrimonious nature of the current discussion to a lack of consensus on these basic questions. Lars Schoultz is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina.