United States Security Policy in Latin America
Abstract
The Honorable Lester B. Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada during the early 1960's, once described the experience of being a nation on the borders of the United States as like being in bed with an elephant no matter how friendly or well intentioned the elephant, his slightest twitch or itch is cause or anxiety. In this case Mr. Pearson was chiding the American elephant on the basis of a long term relationship of good will and mutual respect a relatively happy marriage to a kindly if sometimes careless elephant. To apply the same analogy to Mexico and the latin American nations to our South, the relationship would more appropriately be described as a loveless marriage, with a long history of neglect and elephant abuse. When you have been crushed by the elephant it is hard to trust him or his motives. There is no doubt that for cultural, ethnic, and other reasons, our relations with Canada have been radically different and consistently better than with our Southern neighbors. The point of this paper is not to critique the difference, but to analyse U.S. relations with Latin America as they have been and are currently evolving, and to isolate what our core national interests are in the region. From this some broad policy priorities will be developed in an effort to better define a coherent approach for the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 23, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA440871
Entities
People
- Howard J. Wiarda
- Scott R. Nichols
Organizations
- National War College