The Monroe Doctrine and American Presence in Latin America 4219-SF011-OG

One of the most interesting, and still disputed, issues of history of American diplomacy and foreign policy is the one of U.S. presence in Latin America. Events of the 20th Century created a popular myth of United States' policy toward Latin American nations being always an imperialistic, if not colonial one. The Monroe Doctrine became a symbol of Yankee "lust" for domination in the Western Hemisphere, especially south of Rio Grande River. The course will focus on the historical roots of contemporary attitude of Washington toward that region, starting even earlier than proclamation of Monroe Doctrine in 1823. It will follow various aspects of the history of complicated relations between the "sister republics" of North and South America
since the early 19th Century up to the end of the next one. Diplomatic documents and state papers, press articles, political literature, memoirs and speeches, mostly American, will be usede as primary sources.

Type of course

general courses

Course coordinators

Zbigniew Kwiecień

Learning outcomes

Understanding by the students of the various, and especially less-known aspects of U.S. presence in Latin American world
during the last two centuries. Developing their ability of analyzing and interpreting the very special character of relations between
the North American Superpower and a differentiated community
of other American republics in historical perspective.

Assessment criteria

Active participation in the classes and presence at the most of them (60%); at least one presentation or a paper on one of the subjects discussed, chosen by a student and approved by teacher (40%); short interview with teacher before the deadline for gradation.

Bibliography

Primary sources:
Annals of America, Chicago 1976
Michael E. Gambone (ed.) – Documents of American Diplomacy. From American Revolution to the Prezent, Westport, Conn. 2002
Henry S. Commager (ed.) – Documents of American History (vol.1,2), 9th edition, Englewood Cliffs, N.Jersey 1973
Robert L. Holden, Eric Zolov (ed.) – Latin America and the United States: a documentary History, N.York 2000

Secondary sources:
Richard H. Collin – Theodore Roosevelt’s Caribbean: the Panama Canal, the Monroe Doctrine, and the Latin American context, Baton Rouge 1990
Russel Crandall – The United States and Latin America After the Cold War, N.York 2000
Dana Gardner – The United States and the Caribbean Republics 1921-1933, Princeton, N.J. 1974
Guy Poitras – The Ordeal of Hegemony: the United States and Latin America, Boulder, Colo. 1990
Stephen G. Rabe – Eisenhower and Latin America: the foreign policy of anticommunism, Chapel Hill 1988
Basil Rauch – American Interest in Cuba: 1848-1855, N.York 1974
Carla Anne Robbins – The Cuban Threat, N. York 1983
Peter H. Smith – Talons of the Eagle: dynamics of U.S. – Latin American Relations, N.York 2000
Steven Schwartzberg – Democracy and the U.S. Policy in Latin America During the Truman Years, Gainsville 2003

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 4219-SF011-OG in USOSweb