U S Policy Toward The Americas In 2010 And Beyond

The Obama administration inherits a daunting set of domestic and international policy challenges. It would be tempting to put Latin America and the Caribbean on the back burner, for their nations pose no imminent security threat nor do they seem at first blush critical to the most pressing problems of U.S. foreign policy. The Obama Administration and the Americas, however, argues that the new administration should focus early and strategically on Latin America. Our neighbors to the south impact daily on the lives of U.S. citizens, on issues such as energy, narcotics, immigration, trade, and jobs. And these are the countries most likely to partner with Washington on the basis of shared values, culture, and interests. Recognized experts from Latin America, the United States, and Europe suggest in this timely volume that the United States should seize an early opportunity to engage Latin America, recognizing the region's diversity but also its shared concerns and aspirations. The consolidation of stable democracies and rule of law in Latin America has long been an expressed goal of both parties in Washington, but the backlash from Iraq, the global financial crisis, and other recent experiences may discourage the use of U.S. influence and assistance to nurture democratic governance. The authors emphasize case-by-case, sophisticated, and multilateral approaches to dealing with such hard cases as Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and Venezuela.

In this edited volume, scholars from Latin America and the United States will analyze how US foreign policy making circles have applied the concepts to the creation of new US security initiatives in the Latin American region during the post September 11, 2001 era.

Introduction: New Histories of Latin America at the League of Nations / Yannick Wehrli -- Part One. Sovereignty and Conflict Resolution -- Anti-Imperialism and the Failure of the League of Nations / Alan McPherson -- A Dangerous League of Nations : The Abyssinian War and Latin American Proposals for the Regionalization of Collective Security / Yannick Wehrli -- Mexico and its "Defense" of Ethiopia at the League of Nations / Fabián Herrera León -- Non-Intervention through Intervention : Mexican Diplomacy in the League of Nations during the Spanish Civil War / Abdiel Oñate -- Part Two. Labor -- Europe-Geneva-America : The First International Conference of American States Affiliated to the International Labour Organization / Norberto Osvaldo Ferreras -- "To Raise Awareness of Difficulties and to Assert their Opinion" : The International Labour Office and the Regionalization of International Cooperation in the 1930s / Véronique Plata-Stenger -- Beyond Social Legislation : Worker Unity in Latin America and its Links to the International Labour Organization, 1936-1939 / Patricio Herrera González -- Part Three. Intellectual and Scientific Cooperation -- "The Spirit of Harmony" and the Politics of (Latin American) History at the League of Nations / Corinne Pernet -- Latin America at the Crossroads : The Inter-American Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, the League of Nations, and the Pan-American Union / Juliette Dumont -- Between National and International Science and Education : Miguel Ozório de Almeida and the League of Nations's Intellectual Cooperation Project / Letícia Pumar -- Rudolf Kraus, South America, and the League of Nations's Permanent Commission on Biological Standardization / Juliana Manzoni -- Part Four. Economic and Social Activities -- Discovering Underdevelopment : Argentina and Double Taxation at the League of Nations / José Antonio Sánchez Román -- Latin America and International Nutrition : Integrative Channels in the Interwar Period / Maria Leticia Galluzzi Bizzo -- Separating the Political from the Technical : The 1938 League of Nations Mission to Latin America / Amelia Kiddle -- Conclusion: The Distinct Integration of Latin America / Alan McPherson

AN INCISIVE "WHITE PAPER" ON THE UNITED STATES'S STRUGGLE TO FRAME A COHERENT MIDDLE EAST POLICY In this book, the Middle East expert Stephen P. Cohen traces U.S. policy in the region back to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, when the Great Powers failed to take crucial steps to secure peace there. He sees in that early diplomatic failure a pattern shaping the conflicts since then—and America's role in them. A century ago, there emerged two dominant views regarding the uses of America's newfound power. Woodrow Wilson urged America to promote national freedom and self-determination through the League of Nations—in stark contrast to his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt, who had advocated a vigorous foreign policy based on national self-interest. Cohen argues that this running conflict has hobbled American dealings in the Middle East ever since. In concise, pointed chapters, he shows how different Middle East countries have struggled to define themselves in the face of America's stated idealism and its actual realpolitik. This conflict came to a head in the confused, clumsy Middle East policy of George W. Bush—but Cohen suggests the ways a greater awareness of our history in the region might enable our present leaders to act more sensibly.