Download United States-Latin American Foreign Policy

United States-Latin American
Foreign Policy
1900-1940
Foreign Policy 101
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Foreign policy is defined as the diplomatic
policy of a nation in its interactions with other
nations.
The diplomatic history of the United States
oscillated among three positions:
1. isolation from diplomatic entanglements of other
(typically European) nations (but with economic
connections to the world);
2. alliances with European and other military partners;
and
3. unilateralism, or operating on its own sovereign
policy decisions
Foreign Policy 101
• The executive branch of the U.S. government is
the primary agent of foreign policy.
• However, Article I gives Congress the authority
to regulate foreign commerce (i.e. tariffs)
• Article II of the Constitution gives the president
the authority to make treaties (with the consent
of Senate) and to appoint & receive (recognize)
ambassadors
• The president is advised by:
– Secretary of State (State Department)
– National Security Council (NSC) est.1947
– Joint Chiefs of Staff (Pentagon)
Developing U.S. Foreign Policy
Monroe Doctrine 1823
• Announced at James Monroe’s State of the
Union Address.
– European powers were no longer to colonize or
interfere with the affairs of the newly independent
states of the Americas
– The U.S. would not interfere with existing colonies or
their dependencies in the Western Hemisphere.
– However, any attempt by a European nation to
oppress or control any nation in the western
hemisphere would be seen as an act of aggression
and the U.S. would intervene.
Monroe Doctrine
• The doctrine's authors, chiefly future-President
and then secretary-of-state John Quincy Adams,
saw it as a proclamation by the U.S. of moral
opposition to colonialism.
• The doctrine has been interpreted different ways
by different presidents, especially Theodore
Roosevelt (TR)
• The doctrine has been the foundation of U.S.
foreign policy since its proclamation in1823.
Gunboat Diplomacy
• Gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of
foreign policy objectives with the aid of
conspicuous displays of military power—
implying a threat of warfare, should terms not be
agreeable to the superior force. Ex. Theodore
Roosevelt: Support for Panamanian separatists
1903-1904, Great White Fleet 1907
Dollar Diplomacy
• Dollar diplomacy is term used to describe the
efforts of the United States, particularly under
President William Howard Taft, to further its
foreign policy aims in Latin America through use
of its economic power by guaranteeing loans
made to foreign countries.
– The term was originally coined by President Taft, who
claimed that U.S. operations in Latin America went
from "warlike and political" to "peaceful and
economic".
– The term is also used historically by Latin Americans
to show their disapproval of the role that the U.S.
government and U.S. corporations have played in
using economic, diplomatic and military power to
open up foreign markets. Ex. Honduras 1909,
Nicaragua 1912
Moral Diplomacy
• Moral diplomacy refers
to the foreign policy of
Woodrow Wilson "The
force of America is the
force of moral principle.“
• Wilson's goals were to
condemn imperialism,
spread democracy, and
promote peace.
• Side tracked by the First
World War
Neocolonialism
• Neocolonialism (18801930) is an informal
“colonization” in which
Latin American countries,
though independent,
experienced occasional
military intervention and
overpowering economic
and cultural influence
from Great Britain,
France, and the U.S.
Paternalism
U.S.-Latin American Policy
1900-1940
Guiding Questions
• Describe the evolution of U.S.-Latin American
policy from the Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin
Roosevelt
• Compare and contrast gunboat diplomacy and
dollar diplomacy
• To what extent are neocolonialism, imperialism,
and paternalism related
Pan-American Conference
• The Conferences of American States,
commonly referred to as the Pan-American
Conferences, is established as an international
organization for cooperation on trade and other
issues. It was first introduced by James G.
Blaine of Maine in order to establish closer ties
between the United States and its southern
neighbors.
The Platt Amendment 1901
• Over turned the Teller Amendment. Stipulated
the conditions for the withdrawal of United
States troops remaining in Cuba since the
Spanish-American War, and defined the terms of
Cuban-U.S. relations until the 1934 Treaty of
Relations.
– Cuba would not transfer Cuban land to any power
other than the United States,
– Cuba would contract no foreign debt without
guarantees that the interest could be served from
ordinary revenues,
– ensured U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs when the
United States deemed necessary,
– prohibited Cuba from negotiating treaties with any
country other than the United States
Roosevelt Corollary
• The Roosevelt Corollary was a substantial
amendment to the Monroe Doctrine by U.S.
President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.
Roosevelt's corollary asserted:
– the right of the United States to intervene to stabilize
the economic affairs of small nations in the Caribbean
and Central America if they were unable to pay their
international debts.
– Interventions:
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Cuba (1906-1910),
Nicaragua (1909-1911,1912-1925 & 1926-1933),
Haiti (1915-1934)
Dominican Republic (1916-1924)
Hoover’s Good Neighbor Policy
• Policy term coined by President Herbert Hoover
on a goodwill trip to Latin America soon after his
election in 1928. In Honduras, he announced
– "We have a desire to maintain not only the cordial
relations of governments with each other, but also the
relations of good neighbors."
• The intention was to mend relations with Latin
American countries after they criticized The
Coolidge Administration during the Sixth PanAmerican Conference in Havana in 1928 for
armed interventions in Haiti and Nicaragua. U.S.
relations with Latin America were at an all-time
low.
The Clark Memorandum
• The Clark Memorandum of the Monroe Doctrine
was announced 1930 by Hoover (originally
drafted in 1928)
– Rejects the notion that the Roosevelt Corollary is part
of the Monroe Doctrine
– Asserts that the U.S. has an interest in Latin America
for the purpose of self-preservation
– Asserted the primary purpose of the Doctrine was to
protect Latin American nations from intervention by
European powers, not to victimize or oppress Latin
American nations
• The Clark Memo was the foundation of Hoover’s
Good Neighbor Policy
FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy
• In President Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural
address, he also promised to improve relations
with Latin America by stating:
– "In the field of world policy, I dedicate this nation to
the policy of the good neighbor — the neighbor who
resolutely respects himself and, because he does so,
respects the rights of others."
• FDR’s Sec. of State, Cordell Hull
– Sought to ensure non-hostile neighbors south of the
border and
– secure Latin American cooperation in the war effort by
maintaining the flow of petroleum & raw materials.
FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy
• Under Hulls stewardship:
– Low tariffs improved the economies of the Latin
American countries that had been hurt by the HawleySmoot Tariff of 1930, especially for Cuban sugar.
– Hull convened the Seventh Montevideo-PanAmerican Conference in 1933 in Uruguay, where he
committed to a policy of non-intervention into the
affairs of Latin American countries. As evidence of his
commitment, U.S. Marines were removed from Haiti
in 1934 and Congress signed a treaty with Cuba
nullifying the Platt Amendment
FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy
• Under Hulls stewardship:
– Conference for the Maintenance of Peace in Buenos
Aires in 1936, the American nations agreed to mutual
consultation on security threats to any of the nations
within the hemisphere.
– Eighth Pan-American Conference, held in Lima, Hull
managed to obtain a resolution reasserting a united
front against possible Axis aggression.
– Panama Canal Treaty re-negotiated in 1936.
– The U.S. restrained from intervening when Mexico
expropriated foreign oil companies in 1938, an
amicable settlement was arranged.
FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy
• Post War:
– Great strides had been made to improve relations
with Latin America during WW II so that after the
war's end, the U.S. was able to persuade Latin
American countries to join the Organization of
American States (OAS), a regional organization under
the United Nations (largely controlled by the U.S.)
– The Good Neighbor Policy and the Pan-American
"war propaganda" were further abandoned when the
United States ignored free trade overtures and
viewed Latin America merely as a supplier of raw
materials and tropical foodstuffs.