U.S.-LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS

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U.S.-LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS

• Political Science 146A
• Peter H. Smith

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Why This Course?

• Convenience or program requirements
• Economic opportunities, emerging markets
• Presence in southern California
• Insights on American society
• Perspectives on U.S. foreign policy
• How do strong countries treat weaker ones?

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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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Design of the Course

• Course Structure and Conceptual Approaches
• Historical Trends
• 1. The Imperial Era
• 2. The Cold War
• 3. Age of Uncertainty The 1990s

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• The Post-Cold War Era
• The New Economic Agenda
• Drugs and Drug Trafficking
• Illegal Immigration

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• 9/11 and U.S.-Latin American Relations
• George Bush and Latin America
• What Can Latin America Do?

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Required Readings

• Smith, Talons of the Eagle
• Tulchin and Espach, eds., Latin America in the
  New International System
• Holden and Zolov, eds., Latin America and the
  United States
• 146A Course Reader

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Course Requirements

• Mid-term exam Tuesday, February 10
• (33 percent of grade)
• Final exam Friday, March 19 (67 percent)
• Optional paper Tuesday, March 2 (30 percent of
  grade, so mid-term 20 percent and final 50
  percent)

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Teaching Assistants

• Lindsay Lavelle
• Heather Smith
• Lydia Tiede

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Overview Conceptual Approaches

• Idealist (transnationalist)
• Role of institutions
• Democracy and peace
• Construction of system
• Interdependence and economic interests
• Implications for U.S.-Latin American relations

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• Realist
• Quest for power
• Emphasis on nation-state
• State as rational, unitary actor
• Anarchy rather than coordination
• Implications for U.S.-Latin American relations

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• Radical
• Preeminence of social classes
• State as tool of dominant class
• Hierarchy (dependencia) rather than anarchy
• Ideology rather than rationality
• Implications for U.S.-Latin American relations
• Postscript Globalization as framework
• or ideology

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Popular Culture and U.S. Policy

• Question Does popular culture matter? Or
  public opinion?
• Selected propositions
• 1. Public opinion has significant effects
• 2. Public opinion has little if any effect
• 3. State apparatus can mold and mobilize
  public opinion, which in turn provides
  legitimacy for elite decisions

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The Gringo in Mañanaland

1. The hero discovers paradise
2. The hero has a dream about bananas
3. The hero has a problem with women
4. And with bandits
5. The hero calls in the Marines (who save the day)
6. The bandits cooperate (from prison)
7. The Good Neighbors are happy