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 Kelly Matush
 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
 Format: 10-12 double-spaced pages (including notes or bibliography); 1-inch
margins; 12-pt. font; include page numbers. You may choose a citation style.
 Due: Wednesday, March 5th (via Turnitin link on TED page and hard copy in class)

 Prompt: A paper prompt will be posted to the (forthcoming) TED page.

 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

“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

• The doctrine of “manifest destiny”

• The problem of race

• The historic compromise

 Power and Its Costs: The Rise of Anti-Imperialism