Encountering Latin America; acquiring northern Mexico; struggling over slavery in the Caribbean; ending an era - regional hegemony over a defective people; beginning a new era - the imperial mentality; testing the imperial waters - confronting Chile; excluding Great Britain - the Venezuela boundary dispute; establishing an empire - Cuba and the war with Spain; creating a country, building a canal; chastising chronic wrongdoing; providing benevolent supervision - dollar diplomacy; continuing to help in the most practical way possible; removing the marines, installing the puppets; establishing the foundations of honourable intercourse; becoming a good neighbour; attacking dictatorships; combatting Communism with friendly dictators; combatting Communism with economic development; two centuries later.
ever to be achieved. Amazingly extensive research digging deep into
the rich archival sources available is apparent throughout the book
and this is what will most probably make it the standard one-volume
work in the field.
know something about a particular affair, although it is meant to
be read as a complete history...The book reads easily, and could
even be described as entertaining.
knowledge of the sources comes through in the excellent use of
quotation within a briskly written and delightfully jargon-free
prose...Of the plethora of single-volume studies of this vital
subject Lars Schoultz's is easily the best.
satisfy the non-expert...Of the plethora of single-volume studies
of this vital subject, Lars Schoultz's is easily the best.
subsequent neocolonisation of the island...Highly recommended.
States" contributes to the advancement of knowledge by making it
clear that the literature about US policy towards Latin America
still has many hypotheses to prove.
"Beneath the United States" is a rich historical examination of US
foreign policy toward Latin America from the early 1800s to
1996...The volume stands apart from other works in the field in
that the unifying theme throughout is the well-documented argument
that US policy makers consistently have treated their southern
neighbors as inferiors. Of course, Schoultz also includes the more
standard explanation for US behavior--national interest based on
security, domestic, and economic issues--but it is the abundance of
quotations by US officials, and even a few presidents, referring to
Latin Americans in a condescending manner that really drives home
the point...The historical narrative style makes this volume
eminently readable. It is replete with fascinating details that are
often overlooked, such as the opportunity to annex the Dominican
Republic in 1869. Recommended for all college and university
collections. -- L. Boudon "Choice"
"Beneath the United States" serves as a good overview of official
U.S. attitudes toward Latin American countries from the time of
their independence to the more recent U.S. support of insurgent
forces in Latin American countries in an effort to install regimes
receptive to perceived U.S. economic and security interests. Many
specific incidents are covered, giving this work some reference
value to anyone needing to know something about a particular
affair, although it is meant to be read as a complete history...The
book reads easily, and could even be described as entertaining. --
Mark A. Thomas "Journal of Government Information"
Ý"Beneath the United States"¨ is a thorough and comprehensive guide
to US/Latin American relations and the sometimes tedious US
policies involved. Schoultz writes clearly and in depth with fresh
insight and provocative views. Above all the book demonstrates the
US attitude of superiority towards Latin American both overt and
covert, and how this attitude must change if a constructive
hemispheric alliance is ever to be achieved. Amazingly extensive
research digging deep into the rich archival sources available is
apparent throughout the book and this is what will most probably
make it the standard one-volume work in the field.
In his valuable history of United States policy towards Latin
America, "Beneath the United States," Lars Schoultz demonstrated
how three interests have determined the content of that policy for
more than 200 years: the need to protect US security, the demands
of domestic politics, and the drive to promote US economic
development. While time and circumstance affect the exact mix of
reasons behind the overall policy, these three interests are
permanent. -- George Victers "Times Literary Supplement"
This book is about racism and the ideas of racial superiority that
justified the whole process of U.S. expansionism...ÝIt¨ is not,
therefore, a conventional history. It is as much about the ideas of
those taking part in events as the events themselves...Schoultz
provides an excellent exposure of Ýthe United States's¨ hypocrisy,
double-dealing and avariciousness, especially in the chapters
dealing with the attempted annexation of Cuba and the subsequent
neocolonisation of the island...Highly recommended. -- Steve
Wilkinson "Morning Star"
This excellent study breaks new ground in a field so cluttered that
one usually harbours very low expectations of originality, style
and fresh scholarship. Schoultz, a political scientist hitherto
best known for his study of human rights, has written a lucid
history that derives much of its strength precisely from its
understanding of the conservative and expansionist presumptions of
those who have formulated and implemented US policy towards the
rest of the continent since independence. This, though, is not an
understanding assumed with the ease that one generally finds in
texts on this topic; here it is based on meticulous research of
primary documentation...Schoultz's knowledge of the sources comes
through in the excellent use of quotation within a briskly written
and delightfully jargon-free prose. He is understandably interested
in politics before all else, but there is enough economics here to
satisfy the non-expert...Of the plethora of single-volume studies
of this vital subject, Lars Schoultz's is easily the best. -- James
Dunkerley "History"
Written with a sharp sense of humour, Lars Schoulz's "Beneath the
United States" is a strong criticism of US policy towards Latin
America for almost 200 years. Schoultz's work integrates the most
popular interpretations of US policy and gives them order and
coherence by arguing that US hegemony, implemented in a variety of
styles, was ultimately shaped by the belief of Latin American
cultural inferiority...It is a book about misperceptions, narrow
definitions and ethnocentrism that accurately depicts training and
sensitivity deficits about Latin America in the minds of most US
policy-makers...Schoultz's work is essential reading for students
of US foreign policy and US-Latin American relations for it
provides a powerful and barely used argument about the (recurring)
failure of US policy towards its southern neighbours. "Beneath the
United States" contributes to the advancement of knowledge by
making it clear that the literature about US policy towards Latin
America still has many hypotheses to prove. -- Ana Covarrubias
"Latin American Studies"
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