Book ChapterDOI
The Cold War in Central America, 1975–1991
John H. Coatsworth
- pp 201-221
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The strategic stalemate that prevented a direct military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union displaced violent superpower competition to areas of the Third World where the two blocs could invest in local and regional wars without risking direct confrontation.Abstract:
The strategic stalemate that prevented a direct military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union displaced violent superpower competition to areas of the Third World where the two blocs could invest in local and regional wars without risking direct confrontation. The Soviet Union tended to approach such conflicts cautiously even when they involved other Communist states. The United States, by contrast, adapted its security policies to a containment doctrine that defined the political complexion of every non-Communist government in the world as a matter of potential strategic interest. Local opposition to foreign rule in the US and European colonial empires, and social movements aiming to displace traditional elites elsewhere, confronted a strong US preference for reliably anti-Communist (and thus conservative to right-wing) regimes. Even moderate to conservative regimes that sought to advance national interests by constraining US influence came under assault from Washington. Governments that collaborated closely with the United States often had to ignore or suppress local interests opposed to US policies. In its prosecution of the Cold War in the Third World, the United States enjoyed formidable advantages over its Soviet rival. Economic strength gave US leaders a decided financial and material advantage over the Soviets. Military bases projected US power into regions bordering on Communist states throughout the world. US ideological and cultural assets also helped. Alliances with local elites eager to reduce domestic challenges proved especially helpful. The United States deployed all of these resources in response to perceived affronts to its regime and policy preferences wherever they occurred.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Making of the Good Neighbor Policy. By Bryce Wood. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961. pp. x, 438. Index. $7.50.
Book
To Make a World Safe for Revolution: Cuba's Foreign Policy
TL;DR: The Formative Years The Security Regime Cuba's Challenge to the Soviet Union in the 1960s The Reestablishment of Soviet Hegemony Support for Revolutionary Movements Support For Revolutionary States Cuba's Relations with Capitalist Countries Cuba's Diplomacy in the Americas and the Third World How Cuban Foreign Policy Is Made Appendix A: Interviews Conducted in Cuba and Elsewhere Appendix B: Technical Notes on Soviet-Cuban Economic Relations Notes Index as discussed by the authors
Dissertation
Defective polities : a history of an idea of international society
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a meta-theoretical analysis of the role of international law and state sovereignty in the perpetuation of the concept of defective polities in post-Cold War international society.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soviet Relations with Latin America, 1959-1987
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of Marxist thought in Latin America is discussed. But the authors focus on the relationship between the major Latin American powers and the Soviet Union and the Central American crisis.
References
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BookDOI
The Blood of Guatemala: A History of Race and Nation
TL;DR: The Blood of Guatemala as discussed by the authors explores the close connection between nationalism, state power, ethnic identity, and political violence, drawing on sources as diverse as photographs, public rituals, oral testimony, literature, and a collection of previously untapped documents written during the nineteenth century.
Book
Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States, 1944-1954
TL;DR: Gleijeses as discussed by the authors analyzes the history and downfall of what seems in retrospect to have been Guatemala's best government, the short-lived regime of Jacobo Arbenz, overthrown in 1954, by a CIA-orchestrated coup.
Journal ArticleDOI
The CIA in Guatemala: The Foreign Policy of Intervention
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the history of the Cold War in Latin America and the U.S.'s involvement in the coup in Chile in the early 1970s, and discuss the legacy of the coup.
Book
Power in the Isthmus: A Political History of Modern Central America
TL;DR: An analysis of the political history of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Costa Rica can be found in this paper, with a focus on the early 1970s.