U'S'LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS

1
U.S.-LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS

• Political Science 146A
• Peter H. Smith
• E-mail phsmith_at_weber.ucsd.edu
• TAs Carew Boulding, Lindsay Heger

2
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?

3
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?

4
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

5

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

6

• 9/11 and U.S.-Latin American Relations
• George Bush and Latin America
• Prospects for U.S. Policy

7
Required Readings

• Smith, Talons of the Eagle
• Holden and Zolov, eds., Latin America and the
  United States
• 146A Course Reader

8
Course Requirements

• Mid-term exam Monday, May 2 (33 of grade)
• Final exam Friday, June 10 (67)
• Optional paper Monday, May 23 (30 of grade, so
  mid-term 20 and final 50)

9
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

10

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

11

• 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?

12
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

13
The Gringo in Mañanaland

• The hero discovers paradise
• The hero has a dream about bananas
• The hero has a problem with women
• And with bandits
• The hero calls in the Marines (who save the day)
• The bandits cooperate (from prison)
• The Good Neighbors are happy