Synopses & Reviews
Despite its avowed commitment to liberalism and democracy internationally, the United States has frequently chosen to back repressive or authoritarian regimes in parts of the world. In this comprehensive examination of American support of right-wing dictatorships, David Schmitz challenges the contention that the democratic impulse has consistently motivated U.S. foreign policy.
Compelled by a persistent concern for order and influenced by a paternalistic racism that characterized non-Western peoples as vulnerable to radical ideas, U.S. policymakers viewed authoritarian regimes as the only vehicles for maintaining political stability and encouraging economic growth in nations such as Nicaragua and Iran, Schmitz argues. Expediency overcame ideology, he says, and the United States gained usefulalbeit brutal and corruptallies who supported American policies and provided a favorable atmosphere for U.S. trade.
But such policy was not without its critics and did not remain static, Schmitz notes. Instead, its influence waxed and waned over the course of five decades, until the U.S. interventions in Vietnam marked its culmination.
Review
Schmitz's masterful study illuminates the lamentably close ties between the U.S. government and right-wing regimes.
William O. Walker III, Florida International University
Review
Quite simply, the most powerful rebuttal to the 'triumphalist' school that has appeared since the end of the Cold War.
Thomas J. Knock, Southern Methodist University
Synopsis
By illuminating the close ties between the U.S. government and right-wing dictatorships between 1921 and 1965, David Schmitz challenges the contention that the democratic impulse has consistently motivated U.S. foreign policy.
Synopsis
Schmitz's masterful study illuminates the lamentably close ties between the U.S. government and right-wing regimes.
William O. Walker III, Florida International University Quite simply, the most powerful rebuttal to the 'triumphalist' school that has appeared since the end of the Cold War.
Thomas J. Knock, Southern Methodist University
About the Author
David F. Schmitz holds the Robert Allen Skotheim Chair of History at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He is author of The United States and Fascist Italy, 1922-1940.
Table of Contents
ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction. Our Sons of Bitches
Chapter 1. Peace Must First Be Riveted: The Republican Response to Revolution and Dictatorship
Chapter 2. The Origins of the Good Neighbor Policy: The Quest for Order in Latin America
Chapter 3. From Accommodation to Appeasement to War: The Roosevelt Administration and Fascism in Europe
Chapter 4. Disreputable Governments or Allies?: The Truman Administration and Right-Wing Dictatorships
Chapter 5. Thank God They're on Our Side: Eisenhower, Dulles, and Dictators
Chapter 6. New Frontiers?: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Return to Intervention
Epilogue. Carter, Kirkpatrick, and Right-Wing Dictators
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index