Objectives: In this course we will first explore the history of relations between the U.S. and Latin America, in an attempt to understand the roots of current U.S. policy towards the countries in the region. Then we will focus our attention on three critical contemporary inter-American policy issues facing the U.S.: drug policy, immigration policy, and economic policy. We will consider how the emergence of the U.S. as the dominant political and economic power in the western hemisphere shapes the context for ongoing negotiations in these policy arenas, and endeavor to understand how domestic politics in both the U.S. and in the countries of Latin America constrains diplomatic initiative.
Requirements: Grading will be based on two midterms (30% each) and a short research paper (5-6 pages) (40%). The writing assignment will be passed out Friday January 29th and due on Monday March 1st. The exams will consist of a combination of short-answer essays and longer essays. Exams grades will be based on a demonstrated command of the material from lectures and readings. Grades will be based on University grade definitions, which establish the qualities of performance expected at different grade levels (see CLA Classroom Grading and Examination Procedures 1996-97, p. 13). Note, for example, that the University defines a "C" grade as "achievement meeting the basic course requirements in every respect."
I expect students to do all the readings listed on the syllabus - before the scheduled class. Class participation may involve answering questions I pose about the day's readings, so come prepared. I will make time during every lecture for questions and discussion, so please come prepared with questions about the readings or previous lectures. I encourage students to visit me during my office hours to either discuss class topics more in depth or to get help with any aspect of the class, including exam and paper preparation.
Policies for make-up exams, late assignments, and incompletes: make-up exams will not be permitted unless the student notifies the professor before the regular exam is administered and later presents written documentation of the circumstances (e.g. note from University Health Service verifying illness). Only the legitimate circumstances mentioned in the Policy on makeup Examinations will be accepted, and only with written documentation (legitimate circumstances include religious holidays, verifiable illness, serious family emergencies, subpoenas, jury duty, military service, and participation in group activities sponsored by the University). Incompletes will be granted only in the case of documented illness, and if the student and professor complete the CLA Agreement for Completion of Incomplete Work. Written assignments are due during the class period on the days they are due. Assignments turned in after the class period will be considered late. Late assignments will be marked down one-tenth of a grade point (on a 4-point scale) per day they are late.
Texts: students should purchase the following texts as well as a course packet at the bookstore. All readings are also on reserve at Wilson Library. All readings in this syllabus are required readings.
Schoultz, Lars. 1998. Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy Toward Latin America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Danner, Mark. 1993. The Massacre at El Mozote. New York: Vintage Books.
Zirnite, Peter. 1998. "Reluctant Recruits: The U.S. Military and the War on Drugs." Washington, D.C.: Washington Office on Latin America.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Monday, January 4: Introduction
Video: from the 'Americas' series, 'Get Up, Stand Up: Problems of Sovereignty.'
Unit I: History of U.S. - Latin American Relations
Wednesday, January 6: The U.S. and Latin America: New Republics in the New World
Schoultz, chapter 1
Friday, January 8: 'Manifest Destiny,' the Mexican-American War, and the relationship between slavery in the U.S. and U.S. foreign policy prior to the Civil War
Schoultz, chapters 2 and 3
Monday, January 11: The origins of U.S. "imperial" ambition
Schoultz, chapters 4 and 5
Wednesday, January 13: The 'Spanish-American' War and its aftermath
Schoultz, chapter 8
Friday, January 15: 'A Man, a Plan, a Canal: Panama'
Schoultz, chapter 9
Monday, January 18: Martin Luther King Day, NO CLASS
Wednesday, January 20: 'Big Stick' Diplomacy: Might Makes Right?
Schoultz, chapter 10
Friday, January 22: 'Dollar Diplomacy,' or 'Money Talks'
Schoultz, chapters 11 and 12
Monday, January 25: the 'Good Neighbor' Policy
Schoultz, chapters 14 and 15
Wednesday, January 27: The Cold War: Latin America as a superpower battleground
Schoultz, chapters 17 and 18
Friday, January 29: A short history of 'covert' U.S. involvement in Latin America
Danner, The Massacre at El Mozote (read as much as you can before lecture)
Monday, February 1: Continue to read Danner book
Wednesday, Februrary 3: Cold War continued: US support for the El Salvadoran military in the 1980s.
Read "The Documents" section at the back of Danner book.
Friday, February 5: Security policy after the Cold War? Contemporary US-Cuba relations
LeoGrande, William M. 1998. "From Havana to Miami: U.S. Cuba Policy as a Two-Level Game." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 40(1): 67-86.
Henderson, David R., 1997. "Why Our Cuba Policy is Wrong." Fortune October 13, 1997, pp. 48-9.
Schoultz, chapter 19
Monday, February 8: 1ST MIDTERM
Unit II. Immigration Policy
Wednesday, February 10: Immigration: 'Anglo' America comes face-to-face with 'Latin' America
Rubaut, Rubén. 1992. "The Americans: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples in the U.S." in Alfred Stepan (ed.), Americas: New Interpretive Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Espenshade, Thomas J., and Maryann Belanger. 1997. "U.S. Public Perceptions and Reactions to Mexican Migration." In Bean et al., (eds.), At the Crossroads: Mexican Migration and U.S. Policy. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, pp. 227-261.
Borjas, George. 1998. "Tired, Poor, on Welfare." National Review, December 13, pp. 40-42.
Friday, February 12: Who wins and who loses from immigration?
González Baker, Susan, Robert G. Cushing, and Charles W. Haynes. 1997. "Fiscal Impacts of Mexican Migration to the United States." In Bean et al., pp. 145-76.
Monday, February 15: Immigration: the local angle in an international political dispute
On this day we will have two visitors: one from the local branch of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and one from an immigrants' support group.
Mitchell, Chip. 1998. "Blue Against Brown?" Connection to the Americas 15(6):1-6 (July-August).
Wednesday, February 17: Immigration policy: recent developments
Smith, Peter H. 1997. "NAFTA and Mexican Migration." In Bean et al., 263-281.
Weintraub, Sidney. 1997. "U.S. Foreign Policy and Mexican Immigration." In Bean et al., 283-298.
Massey, Douglas. 1998. "The March of Folly: U.S. Immigration Policy after NAFTA." The American Prospect #37 (March-April), pp. 22-33.
San Diego Union-Tribune. 1998. "Death in the Desert." Editorial, August 17, 1998. Pp. B-6.
DePalma, Anthony. 1998. "Border Deaths Don't Change Mexico's View of Crossings." New York Times August 25, 1998, page A4.
Unit III: Drug Policy
Friday, February 19: Drug Policy: America hallucinates as it looks in the mirror?
Geopolitical Drug Watch. 1998. "A Drug Trade Primer for the Late 1990s." Current History 97(618):150-53.
Bertram, Eva et al., 1996. Drug War Politics: The Price of Denial. Berkeley: University of California Press, chapters 1-3.
Falco, Mathea. 1998. "America's Drug Problem and Its Policy of Denial." Current History 97(618):145-149.
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Monday, February 22: The Drug War: fighting new battles with old weapons?
Mendel, William M. and Murl D. Munger. 1997. "The Drug Threat: Getting Priorities Straight." Parameters, The U.S. Army War College Quarterly Summer (web site download).
Zirnite, Peter. 1998. "Reluctant Recruits: The U.S. Military and the War on Drugs." Washington, D.C.: Washington Office on Latin America.
Wednesday, February 24: How the Drug War influences politics in Latin America
Andreas, Peter. 1998. "The Political Economy of Narco-Corruption in Mexico." Current History 97(618):160-65.
Payne, Douglas. 1997. "Why Drug Traffickers Love Free Trade." Dissent, Summer 1997, pp. 59-64.
Gugliotta, Guy. 1992. "The Colombian Cartels and How to Stop Them." In Peter H. Smith (ed.), Drug Policy in the Americas. Boulder: Westview Press.
Unit IV: Economic Policy
Friday, February 26: Democracy and Economic Crisis in Latin America: what should the US response be?
Drake, Paul W. 1989. "Debt and Democracy in Latin America, 1920s-1980s." in Barbara Stallings and Robert Kaufman, Debt and Democracy in Latin America. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Remmer, Karen. 1990. "Democracy and Economic Crisis: the Latin American Experience." Reprinted in Roderic Ai Camp (ed.), 1996, Democracy in Latin America: Patterns and Cycles. Wilmington, DE: Jaguar Books.
Monday, March 1: 'Globalization,' Financial Flows and Political Stability: The 'Asian Flu,' the 'Tequila Effect,' and recent efforts to avoid economic collapse in Latin America
Sachs, Jeffrey. 1998. "The IMF and the Asian Flu." The American Prospect #37 (March-April 1998), pp. 16-21.
Pettis, Michael. "The Liquidity Trap: Latin America's Free-Market Past." Foreign Affairs November-December 1996, pp. 2-7.
Handout on Brazil bailout
SHORT RESEARCH PAPERS DUE TODAY - MARCH 1
Unit V: Trade Policy
Wednesday, March 3: NAFTA: 'Globalization,' Trade Flows and the intersection of domestic and international politics
Bradsher, Keith. "G.M.'s Efficient Brazil Plant Raises Fears Closer to Home." The New York Times, 6/17/98, p. A-1, C-22.
Friday, March 5: NAFTA: predicted economic, political, and social effects in the US and Latin America
Judis, John B. "The Divide." The New Republic, October 11, 1993, pp. 26-27, 32.
Buckley, William F. "NAFTA, Yes." National Review, November 29, 1993, pp. 13-16.
Smith, Peter H. 1992. "The Political Impact of Free Trade on Mexico." Reprinted in Roderic Ai Camp (ed.), 1996, Democracy in Latin America: Patterns and Cycles. Wilmington, DE: Jaguar Books.
Monday, March 8: NAFTA: what effect has it had so far? What are the prospects for its future?
Anderson, Sarah, et al. "NAFTA: Trinational Fiasco." The Nation, July 15/22, 1996, pp. 26-29.
Raine, George. "NAFTA boosts state's exports." San Francisco Examiner, 7/19/98., p D-1.
Arner, Mark. 1998. "Delay on Border Trucking Blasted." San Diego Union-Tribune, August 30, page B-1.
United States Trade Representative, 1998. "Executive Summary." From USTR web site.
Hufbauer, Gary C. and Jeffrey J. Schott. 1993. NAFTA: An Assessment. Washington: Institute for International Economics, chapters 1-2.
Wednesday, March 10: President Clinton's Latin America foreign policy: change or continuity in historical patterns?
Shifter, Michael. 1998. "United States-Latin American Relations: Shunted to the Slow Track." Current History 97(616): 49-54.
Friday, March 12: Synthesis: Latin America and domestic politics in the U.S.
Excerpts from Cincinnati Enquirer exposé on Chiquita Company.
Allen, Arthur. "Citizen Carl." The New Republic, August 17 & 24, 1998, pp. 18-20.
FINAL EXAM DATE: FRIDAY MARCH 19TH, 4-6 P.M.
