STUDY GUIDE: FINAL EXAM

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STUDY GUIDE FINAL EXAM

• Political Science 146A
• Winter 2008

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• DISCUSSION ITEMS (10/13 30 points)
• Daniel Ortega
• Washington Consensus
• FMLN
• Manuel Antonio Noriega
• Cuban American National Foundation
• Free Trade Area of the Americas
• Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
• Operation Just Cause
• MERCOSUR
• Grenada
• Operation Gatekeeper
• Raoul Cédras
• Arellano Felix organization

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• SHORT ESSAYS (2/4 _at_ 20 points each 40 points
  total)
• Is NAFTA working? In what sense? Are there ways
  in which it seems to be failing?
• Evaluate the U.S. war on drugs. What are its
  impacts on countries of Latin America?
• Compare the political, economic, and cultural
  resources of three Latino communities in the
  United States Cubans (or Cuban-Americans) in
  Florida, Puerto Ricans in New York, and
  Mexican-Americans in California.
• What have been the principal determinants of U.S.
  policy toward Latin America since 9/11? How have
  they affected the quality of U.S.-Latin American
  relations?

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• LONG ESSAY (1/2 or 3 30 points)
• Has U.S. influence over Latin America been rising
  or declining since the early twentieth century?
  Why and in what ways?
• What has promoted U.S. military action in Latin
  America since the end of World War II? What have
  been the results?
• Compare the Cold War with the post-9/11 era in
  terms of policy options and strategies available
  to Latin America. Be sure to identify
  similarities as well as differences.
• Evaluate U.S. efforts to promote democracy in
  Latin America. On balance, have they succeeded
  or failed? Why?

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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?
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• Course Design
• Conceptual Approaches
• Historical Trends
• The Imperial Era
• The Cold War
• Post-Cold War Era The 1990s
• 9/11and Inter-American Relations

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• The Post-Cold War Era
• The New Economic Agenda
• Drugs and Drug Trafficking
• Illegal Immigration
• 9/11 and U.S.-Latin American Relations
• George Bush and Latin America
• What Can Latin America Do?
• Toward a New U.S. Policy?

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Principal Sources

• Lectures
• Videos
• Gringo in Mañanaland
• School of Assassins
• Latin American and Caribbean Presence in the U.S.
• Readings
• Talons of the Eagle
• Holden and Zolov
• Course Reader

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Core Propositions There is a logical structure
or dynamic in U.S.-Latin American relations. A
key to the relationship has been asymmetry of
power. For the United States, policy toward
Latin America is derivative from U.S. concerns
about global issues and power relations for
Latin America, the stance toward the United
States is a primary determinant of overall
foreign policy. For the United States, the
priority of Latin America has varied
considerably for Latin America, the United
States has always been a top priority.
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The United States and Latin America have both
pursued grand strategies. These strategies
have been forged on the basis of bounded
rationality. Hence, the study of ideas,
attitudes, and culture is essential to an
understanding of inter-American relations. For
this same reason, it is especially important for
U.S. observers to comprehend the logic of Latin
American reactions to the United States. An
additional key is awareness of trends and
developments at the global level. These affect
both the content of U.S. policy and the
feasibility of Latin American reactions.