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The Resource Central America and the United States : the clients and the colossus, John H. Coatsworth

Central America and the United States : the clients and the colossus, John H. Coatsworth

Creator
Summary
For the past century, the United States has effectively dominated the economic and political destinies of the countries on the Central American isthmus - Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. In this timely and engaging narrative, John H. Coatsworth explores the paradoxical question of why a region so closely tied to the United States should have become the site of so much bloodshed and brutality. To answer this question, Coatsworth examines both U.S. foreign policy and its impact on the Central American countries. He rejects the cold war dogma that blames Central American instability on extreme Communist machinations as well as the opposing view that attributes it to purely internal factors such as poverty and inequality. Coatsworth relates the extraordinary high levels of political and social turmoil that have characterized the modern history of Central America largely to these countries' excessively close and subordinate ties to the United States. Coatsworth provides a concise history of U.S.-Central American relations before 1945, from the Monroe Doctrine to the transformation of the isthmian republics into client states of the northern colossus after 1900. In the bulk of the study he looks at the effects of FDR's "Good Neighbor" policy; at how the cold war shaped U.S. policy toward the region, including the United States' involvement in overturning governments in Costa Rica and Guatemala after its friendly relations with repressive regimes in the region; at the effects of the Alliance for Progress and the succeeding decade of U.S. neglect; and at the U.S. role in the Nicaraguan revolution and counter-revolution and the guerrilla war and counterinsurgency in El Salvador. He argues that at key turning points in the political history of five of the six Central American states between 1954 and 1990, the United States played a direct role in averting challenges to the status quo - which meant quashing nationalist, reformist, or revolutionary movements and regimes committed to social change and greater independence from the United States. Gone with the cold war are the security doctrines and the anti-Communist ideology that fed U.S. interventions in Central America in the postwar era. For this reason, Coatsworth's comprehensive survey of these six countries' troubled relations with the United States is essential reading for students of international and Latin American history, as well as for those interested in the evolution of U.S. foreign policy over the last half-century
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xii, 277 pages
Contents
  • The clients and the colossus
  • Closing doors : relations through World War II
  • Containing change : the cold war in Central America, 1945-1957
  • Dollars and dictators : the Alliance for Progress, 1957-1969
  • Imperial decay, 1969-1981
  • Destruction and disarray, 1981-1989
  • Central America after the cold war
Isbn
9780805792102
Instance
Label
Central America and the United States : the clients and the colossus
Title
Central America and the United States
Title remainder
the clients and the colossus
Statement of responsibility
John H. Coatsworth
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
For the past century, the United States has effectively dominated the economic and political destinies of the countries on the Central American isthmus - Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. In this timely and engaging narrative, John H. Coatsworth explores the paradoxical question of why a region so closely tied to the United States should have become the site of so much bloodshed and brutality. To answer this question, Coatsworth examines both U.S. foreign policy and its impact on the Central American countries. He rejects the cold war dogma that blames Central American instability on extreme Communist machinations as well as the opposing view that attributes it to purely internal factors such as poverty and inequality. Coatsworth relates the extraordinary high levels of political and social turmoil that have characterized the modern history of Central America largely to these countries' excessively close and subordinate ties to the United States. Coatsworth provides a concise history of U.S.-Central American relations before 1945, from the Monroe Doctrine to the transformation of the isthmian republics into client states of the northern colossus after 1900. In the bulk of the study he looks at the effects of FDR's "Good Neighbor" policy; at how the cold war shaped U.S. policy toward the region, including the United States' involvement in overturning governments in Costa Rica and Guatemala after its friendly relations with repressive regimes in the region; at the effects of the Alliance for Progress and the succeeding decade of U.S. neglect; and at the U.S. role in the Nicaraguan revolution and counter-revolution and the guerrilla war and counterinsurgency in El Salvador. He argues that at key turning points in the political history of five of the six Central American states between 1954 and 1990, the United States played a direct role in averting challenges to the status quo - which meant quashing nationalist, reformist, or revolutionary movements and regimes committed to social change and greater independence from the United States. Gone with the cold war are the security doctrines and the anti-Communist ideology that fed U.S. interventions in Central America in the postwar era. For this reason, Coatsworth's comprehensive survey of these six countries' troubled relations with the United States is essential reading for students of international and Latin American history, as well as for those interested in the evolution of U.S. foreign policy over the last half-century
Member of
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1940-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Coatsworth, John H.
Dewey number
327.730728
Index
index present
LC call number
F1436.8.U6
LC item number
C63 1994
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
Series statement
Twayne's international history series
Series volume
no. 12
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Central America
  • United States
  • United States
  • Central America
  • Central America
  • United States
  • United States
  • Diplomatic relations
  • Central America
  • United States
  • Buitenlandse betrekkingen
  • Außenpolitik
  • Zentralamerika
  • USA
  • Außenpolitik
  • USA
  • Zentralamerika
Label
Central America and the United States : the clients and the colossus, John H. Coatsworth
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-255) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The clients and the colossus -- Closing doors : relations through World War II -- Containing change : the cold war in Central America, 1945-1957 -- Dollars and dictators : the Alliance for Progress, 1957-1969 -- Imperial decay, 1969-1981 -- Destruction and disarray, 1981-1989 -- Central America after the cold war
Control code
ocm28585231
Dimensions
25 cm.
Extent
xii, 277 pages
Isbn
9780805792102
Lccn
93029998
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o28585231
  • (OCoLC)28585231
Label
Central America and the United States : the clients and the colossus, John H. Coatsworth
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-255) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The clients and the colossus -- Closing doors : relations through World War II -- Containing change : the cold war in Central America, 1945-1957 -- Dollars and dictators : the Alliance for Progress, 1957-1969 -- Imperial decay, 1969-1981 -- Destruction and disarray, 1981-1989 -- Central America after the cold war
Control code
ocm28585231
Dimensions
25 cm.
Extent
xii, 277 pages
Isbn
9780805792102
Lccn
93029998
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o28585231
  • (OCoLC)28585231

Subject

Member of

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