Description:
At the start of the 1960s, revolution challenged the established world order. In every corner of the underdeveloped world, discontent with the status quo fueled attempts to revoke colonialism and the strangleholds on power maintained by entrenched local oligarchies. This book examines the causes of revolution in the sixties and the various responses crafted to stop it, in particular, the Alliance for Progress, a program which represented the best products of American developmental and counterinsurgency theory. Equally important, however, is an examination of the independent policies implemented by Latin Americans themselves, often in direct opposition to those pursued by the U.S.
For the United States the period represented a challenge to both its sovereignty and its leadership in the so-called Free World. Perhaps more importantly, the disruptions blanketing the globe also pointed out the dramatic weaknesses of an American policy dominated by preparations for thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union. For Latin America, revolution challenged national stability and, in the cases of the regimes it was directed against, their very survival.
Brief description: Michael D. Gambone, PhD, is the author of eight books, including Long Journeys Home: American Veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam (2017) and The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society (2005). He is currently a professor of history at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division. In 2006, he deployed to Iraq as a Department of the Army contractor and served in the city of Mosul.
Review Quotes: "Gambone does an excellent job of researching US archives, ranging from the state department papers to presidential libraries. We get a clear insight into the discussions and debates within the various administrations, and the shift in US policy towards Latin America is carefully detailed...Gambone makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the formulation and application of US foreign policies..."-The International History Review