U S Relations With Latin America and the Caribbean

US Foreign Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean

Pastor, R.A. & Long, T. (2010). The Cold War and its Aftermath in the Americas: The Search

for a Synthetic Interpretation of U.S. Policy. Latin American Research Review, 45(3), 261-273.

Pastor and Long conducted a search of synthetic interpretation of the United States foreign policy in Latin America and the Caribbean in the aftermath of the Cold War through examining existing literature of U.S. foreign policy in the Americas. This search was carried out on the premise that some scholars have focused on understanding U.S. foreign policy and inter-American relations in the aftermath of the Cold War. This analysis is carried out on the premise that numerous books and review essays have been developed to examine the Americas in the post-Cold War era and current or future issues in the inter-American agenda. The focus of this article is to examine how U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and the Caribbean has been characterized by neglect and whether the policy focuses on future issues in inter-American relations. Therefore, the thesis of the article is that literature on U.S. foreign policy in the Americas should be synthesized in light of future issues in the relations between these nations.

The author supports this thesis by reviewing literature addressing U.S. foreign policy in the Americas during the Cold War, the post-Cold War era, and current and future issues in the relations between these countries. With regards to the Cold War era, the authors argue that scholars focused on examining the lamppost of U.S. foreign policy to identify existing issues in inter-American relations. This was primarily because of the lack of proper channels for freedom-of-information, especially information in government documents. Since the conduct of the United States was a major aspect in determining its policy in the Americas during this era, policy was based on U.S. superiority and Latin America's inferiority. As a result, the U.S. foreign policy toward the Americas was motivated by racism and the desire to dominate. Scholars who use this perspective in examining U.S. policy towards the Americas during the Cold War postulate that the policy was geared towards maintaining control of this region, justifying an unjust order, and suppressing progressive movements.

In relation to the post-Cold War era, there was a significant change in U.S. foreign policy in Latin America because of the sharp change in the inter-America agenda. Existing literature postulates that this era was characterized by ideological struggles and democratic contests, which forced the United States to engage in a much-lessened attention and resources level. Most scholars' view of U.S. foreign policy in the Americas was influenced by anti-imperialist or radical perspectives. During this period, the United States is less controlled while countries in the Americas have improved capacities to diversify their relationships.

Based on current and future issues in the inter-American relations, Latin America and the Caribbean are seemingly more distant from U.S. foreign policy and much closer to domestic policy (Pastor & Long, 2010, p.267). As shown in existing literature, Latin America's proximity to U.S. domestic policy is attributable to the fact that most controversial and pertinent domestic issues in the United States such as drug trafficking and immigration involve Latin America. Consequently, numerous books and reviewed articles acknowledge this trend and propose policies to address inter-American relations. This literature shows that U.S. foreign policy in the Americas should be more inclusive because of the need for cooperation in dealing with intermestic issues. Inter-American cooperation as part of U.S. foreign policy in the Americas should focus on energy, trade, and drugs since these are most controversial dilemmas that the region faces in the 21st Century.

Through examining numerous books and reviewed essays, the authors demonstrate the need for synthetic interpretation of U.S. foreign policy in the Americas because the country's agenda seems to change depending on the era and existing issues. A synthetic interpretation of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and the Caribbean will help understand inter-American relations in light of current and future issues facing the region.

Part 2: Primary and Secondary Evidence

To support and/or demonstrate the thesis, the authors have relied on primary and secondary evidence relating on U.S. foreign policy in the Americas during different periods. Actually, the authors have relied on numerous books as the primary evidence to support their arguments and thesis whereas reviewed essays or articles have been utilized as secondary sources. These secondary sources have been used to support information in the primary sources to support the need for a synthetic interpretation of U.S. foreign policy in the Americas, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean.

The examples of primary sources include a book titled Latin America's Cold War: an International History by Hal Brands and The United States and Latin America after the Cold War by Andrew F. Cooper and Jorge Heine. On the other hand, examples of secondary sources include a scholarly reviewed article named Interventions, Conventional and Unconventional: Current Scholarship on Inter-American Relations by Thomas F. O'Brien; Recent Works on U.S.-Latin American Relations by Gregory Weeks; Explaining U.S. Policy toward the Caribbean Basin: Fixed and Emerging Images by Robert A. Pastor, and Rethinking U.S.-Latin American Relations by The Brookings Institution.

Part 3: Personal Opinion of the Article

This article provides a comprehensive review of existing literature on U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and the Caribbean since the Cold War. Through the review, the article provides significant insight on inter-American relations that have faced considerable challenges and changes over the years (Pastor & Long, 2010, p.272). While the review does not cover every book or article that has been written about this issue, it helps in shaping interpretation of U.S. foreign policy in the Americas. The significance of insights provided in the article is the need to understand how current and future issues shape the United States foreign policy not only in the America and other parts of the world. Therefore, the review of literature on the U.S. foreign policy is precise and concise in highlighting the impact of existing and future issues on policymaking. Generally, current and future issues in the relations between countries usually shape foreign and domestic policies. This is largely because foreign policy is geared towards addressing these issues in order to enhance relations between countries.