1. IMPERIALISM
IN THE AMERICAS

2. About the Analytical Paper
Topic: Any subject related to U.S.-Latin American relations (whether or not covered in class)—proposed by student and approved by TA
Examples: Sports (e.g. baseball), film (depictions of Latina women),
music (lyrics, popularity of stars, etc.), advertising (Corona beer)
In-class examples: Content of Latin American nationalism, impacts of drug war (e.g., Plan Colombia or Plan Mérida), reactions to 9/11, Obama relationship with Latin leaders, Hugo Chávez phenomenon, evaluations of NAFTA
Length: double-spaced pages (including notes or bibliography)
Due: Wednesday, March 7

3. The Imperial Era Reading: Smith, Talons, Introduction, chs. 1-3
CR “Documents on Imperialism”
Items a, b, d (on U.S. imperialism)
Items c, e (on Latin American reactions)

4. 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?

5. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
International system based on tacit codes of conduct or “regimes”
Regimes change according to distributions of power—political, economic, otherwise
U.S. relations with Latin America thus take place within changing contexts (“regimes”)
Latin American policy is key part of dialectic
Latin America is more important to U.S. than is generally recognized

6. THE UNITED STATES AS AN IMPERIAL POWER
Global Context: Great Powers, Grand Strategies, and the Imperial Regime
The balance of power
Notions of sovereignty
Imperialism and the pursuit of power

7. Imperialism and Its Variations
Conquest and incorporation (France)
Colonization (England, Holland, Spain)
Spheres of influence/
Spheres of interest (various)

10. The U.S. Strategy 1. Driving Europe out Monroe Doctrine (1823)
Preference for Spain
“No-transfer” principle (1811, 1869)
Panama and World War I
2. Creating America’s “empire”
Stage 1: Territorial conquest and incorporation (Mexico, Cuba?)
Parenthesis: Colonization (Puerto Rico, Philippines)
Stage 2: Dollar diplomacy and periodic intervention (Caribbean and Latin America as a whole)

11. U.S. Military Interventions in the Caribbean Basin
Costa Rica 1921
Cuba , , 1912,
Dominican Rep 1903, 1904, 1914,
Haiti
Honduras 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924, 1925
Mexico 1913, 1914, ,
Nicaragua 1898, 1899, , ,
Panama , 1921, 1925

12. Ideology and Its Complications
The doctrine of “manifest destiny”
The problem of race
The historic compromise
Power and Its Costs: The Rise of Anti-Imperialism