Transcript THE DIALECTICS OF IMPERIALISM IN THE AMERICAS

IMPERIALISM IN THE
AMERICAS
About the Analytical Paper
 Topic: Any subject related to U.S.-Latin American relations (whether or not
covered in class)—proposed by student and approved by Maya or Cameron (you
will receive an email about which TA to contact)
 Examples: Sports (e.g. baseball), film (depictions of Latina women),
music (lyrics, popularity of stars, etc.), advertising (Corona beer)
 In-class examples: Content of Latin American nationalism, impacts of drug war
(e.g., Plan Colombia or Plan Mérida), reactions to 9/11, Obama relationship with
Latin leaders, Hugo Chávez phenomenon, evaluations of NAFTA, migration of
minor children
 Format: 10-15 double-spaced pages (including notes or bibliography); 1-inch
margins; 12-pt. font; include page numbers. You may choose a citation style.
 Due: Thursday, December 11
 Prompt: A paper prompt will be posted on the course website.
The Imperial Era
 Reading: Smith, Talons, Introduction, chs. 1-4
KEY QUESTIONS
• What is the current state of U.S. relations with Latin
America?
• What (if anything) is unique or “new” about the present
situation? How much have we seen before?
• Where is the relationship headed? What might the
future hold?
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
• International system based on tacit codes of conduct or
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“regimes”
Regimes change according to distributions of power—
political, economic, otherwise
U.S. relations with Latin America thus take place
within changing contexts (“regimes”)
Latin American policy is key part of dialectic
Latin America is more important to U.S. than is
generally recognized
THE UNITED STATES AS AN IMPERIAL POWER
Global Context: Great Powers, Grand Strategies, and the Rules
of the Game
• The balance of power
• Notions of sovereignty
• Imperialism and the pursuit of power
Imperialism and Its Variations
1. Conquest and incorporation (France)
2. Colonization (England, Holland, Spain)
3. Spheres of influence/ Spheres of interest (various)
The U.S. Strategy
 Driving Europe out
• Monroe Doctrine (1823)
• Preference for Spain
• “No-transfer” principle (1811, 1869)
• Panama and World War I
 Creating America’s “empire”
• Stage 1: Territorial conquest and incorporation (Mexico, Cuba?)
Parenthesis: Colonization (Puerto Rico, Philippines)
• Stage 2: Dollar diplomacy and periodic intervention (Caribbean
and Latin America as a whole)
U.S. Military Interventions in the Caribbean Basin
Costa Rica
1921
Cuba
1898-1902, 1906-1909, 1912, 1917-1922
Dominican Rep 1903, 1904, 1914, 1916-1924
Haiti
1915-1934
Honduras
1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924, 1925
Mexico
1913, 1914, 1916-1917, 1918-1919
Nicaragua
1898, 1899, 1909-1910, 1912-1925, 1926-1933
Panama
1903-1914, 1921, 1925
 Ideology and Its Complications
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The doctrine of “manifest destiny”
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The problem of race
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The historic compromise
 Power and Its Costs: The Rise of Anti-Imperialism