The United States Military as an Instrument of United States Foreign Policy in Latin America.

Abstract

The United States has shown an interest, and actively participated, in the affairs of Latin countries. This has been the situation since the region's independence from Spain in the early 1800s. Perhaps, most symbolic of the U.S. presence in Latin America is the involvement of the U.S. military in the region. Although the history of such involvement was varied, the author shows there is still a need for a U.S. military presence in Latin America. Through a typology, the the author outlined the types of military actions available to the United States. These categories were divided into three levels of involvement, Minimal Involvement, Active Participation, and Combat Operations. A review of p revious U.S. military involvement in Latin America revealed three separate eras of U.S. - Latin American relations from 1898 to the present. The eras were Uncontested Hegemony (1898 - 1945), East West conflict (1945 - 1989), and Regional Cooperation (1989 - present). A review of military options from the typology disclosed there was a trend away from categories under Combat Operations toward the use of categories in the first two levels.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA281995

Entities

People

  • Victor J. Valdez

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Operations
  • Cooperation
  • Foreign Policy
  • Geographic Regions
  • Hispanics
  • Latin America
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Strategic Security Studies