Military Radicalism in Latin America

1981 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles D. Wolpin
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Civilian Control ◽  
World War ◽  
The Military ◽  
Liberal Bias

Analyses of military roles in Latin America during the two decades following World War II often assumed the military were both isolated or apart from politics, and hence amenable to civilian control. The resurgence of militarism since the early Sixties has been reflected in scholarly works reassessing these assumptions. Whereas the pioneers in this field, such as Lieuwen (1964) and Needier (1969), are clearly civilianist—reflecting a democratic and distinctly liberal bias in their values—students of Latin American militarism in the late Sixties and Seventies have increasingly, if tacitly, assumed the unviability of civilian hegemony and tended to downplay the democratic normative issue. Terms such as militarism, democracy, and civilian supremacy have been virtually eclipsed from analyses of military intervention (Johnson, 1964; Einaudi, 1969; Ropp, 1970; Stepan, 1971; Rankin, 1974; Needier, 1975; Fitch, 1979).

The Movement for Regional Arms Control in Latin America

1971 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh B. Stinson ◽  
James D. Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Arms Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Equipment ◽  
The One ◽  
The Military ◽  
Latin American Countries

The post-World War II period in Latin America, as elsewhere, has been marked by the presence of two somewhat contradictory phenomena in the field of armaments. On the one hand, most of the countries have continued their long-standing tradition of devoting a substantial portion of their national budgets to the military and have expanded their arsenals of weapons and stocks of military equipment. On the other hand, several governments have suggested various arms control measures for the Latin American countries. The aim of some of these suggestions has been a reduction in the level of armaments, equipment, and force size; the aim of other suggestions has been more modest—to freeze armaments and forces at existing levels; and the aim of still other suggestions has been to ban nuclear weapons from the region.

Triangulating Labor, Capital, and Land: Italian Emigrant Colonization in Latin America and the Contradictions of US Hegemony, 1947–1953

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-566
Author(s):  
Dario Gaggio
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Marshall Plan ◽  
World War ◽  
Us Hegemony ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Peasant Farmers ◽  
Latin American Countries

In the aftermath of World War II, Italy’s centrist leaders saw in the emerging US empire an opportunity to implement emigration schemes that had been in circulation for decades. Hundreds of thousands of Italian peasant farmers could perhaps be able to settle on Latin American and African land thanks to the contribution of US capital. This article examines the Italian elites’ obsession with rural colonization abroad as the product of their desire to valorize the legacy of Italy's settler colonialism in Libya and thereby reinvent Italy's place in the world in the aftermath of military defeat and decolonization. Despite the deep ambivalence of US officials, Italy received Marshall Plan funds to carry out experimental settlements in several Latin American countries. These visions of rural settlement also built on the nascent discourses about the ‘development’ of non-western areas. Despite the limited size and success of the Italian rural ‘colonies’ in Latin America, these projects afford a window into the politics of decolonization, the character of US hegemony at the height of the Cold War, and the evolving attitude of Latin American governments towards immigration and rural development. They also reveal the contradictory relationships between Italy's leaders and the country's rural masses, viewed as redundant and yet precious elements to be deployed in a global geopolitical game.

Literary and Cultural Representations of Asians in Latin America and the Caribbean

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zelideth María Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Cultural Representations ◽  
World War ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Latin American And Caribbean

Representations of Asians in Latin America and the Caribbean have been caught in the fissures of history, in part because their presence ambivalently affirms, depends upon, and simultaneously denies dominant narratives of race. While these populations are often stereotyped and mislabed as chino, Latin American countries have also made them into symbols of kinship and citizenship by providing a connection to Asia as a source of economic and political power. Yet, their presence highlights a rupture in nationalistic ideas of race that emphasize the European, African, and indigenous. Historically, Asian Latin American and Caribbean literary and cultural representations began during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade (1565–1815) with depictions of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino slaves and galleon laborers. Soon after, Indian and Chinese laborers were in demand as coolie trafficking became prevalent throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Toward the end of the 19th century, Latin American and Caribbean countries began to establish political ties with Asia, ushering in Asian immigrants as a replacement labor force for African slaves. By the beginning of World War II, first- and second-generation immigrants recorded their experiences in poetry, short stories, and memoirs, often in their native languages. World War II disrupted Asian diplomacy with Latin America, and Caribbean and Latin American countries enacted laws that ostracized and deported Japanese immigrants. World War II also marked a change for Asian immigrants to Latin America and the Caribbean: they shifted from temporary to permanent immigrants. Here, authors depicted myriad aspects of their identities—language and citizenship, race, and sexuality—in their birth languages. In other words, late 20th century and early 21st century literature highlights the communities as Latin American and Caribbean. Finally, the presence of Asians in Latin America and the Caribbean has influenced Latin American and Caribbean literature and cultural production, highlighting them as characters and their cultures as themes. Most importantly, however, Latin American modernism emerged from a Latin American orientalism that differs from a European orientalism.

Latin America in World War I

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich E. Schuler
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Acting Out ◽  
World War ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Military Advisors

The English-speaking world awaits its first detailed study examining Latin America during World War I. Many historical events of the era remain little-known, as does much of the region’s military history during this period. While key chronologies, personalities, groups, and historical avenues remain unidentified, researchers must draw knowledge from existing texts. The authors cited in this article for further study cover only a small fraction of the myriad topics presented by the war. World War I set in motion a unique power readjustment in Latin America, the likes of which had not been experienced in the region since the 1820s. Most significantly, the temporary suspension of economic ties with Europe disrupted everyday processes that elites and commoners had previously taken for granted. Changes in economy and finance triggered a struggle between indigenous Americans, peasants, workers, elites, and immigrants, setting the stage for the social and political changes of the 1920s. Amidst the upheaval of World War I, non-elite Latin American groups successfully focused national politics on regional and ethnic issues, while elite Latin Americans weighed the potential advantages of ties with Spanish and Italian authoritarianism. World War I ended European financial dominance over the region, and the destruction of Europe reduced export markets to a point where Latin America’s economic relations with the United States gained new significance. U.S. military advisors took their places alongside European trainers, and many different “U.S.” actors emerged on Latin American soil, acting out rivaling understandings of appropriate U.S. activity in Latin America. The war heralded the end of Belgian influence and of significant French power in the region, British acceptance of U.S. financial preeminence, and questions as to how Prussian military expertise could be leveraged to Latin America’s benefit in the future. The creation of the League of Nations, a development alien to Latin American political culture, caught the region off guard. And yet it laid the foundation for global Latin American diplomacy in the 1930s and after World War II. In the end, the search for a new understanding of a Latin American nation’s place on the changing world stage led to the elevation of the institution of the national army as a social and political arbiter. The myth of the army as embodiment of national essence would last until the 1980s.

Da Segunda Guerra Mundial à Guerra Fria: políticas militares estadunidenses para a América Latina (1943-1947)

Diálogos ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 157
Author(s):  
Dennison De Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Advisory Board ◽  
World War ◽  
Us Military ◽  
National Archives ◽  
America Latina ◽  
The Cold War

O texto interpreta a atuação de organizações militares e diplomáticas estadunidenses dedicadas à América Latina. O contexto é o da transição da Segunda Guerra Mundial à Guerra Fria. A base empírica é composta por diferentes documentos mantidos nos Arquivos Nacionais dos EUA (US National Archives) do acervo do Comitê Consultivo Conjunto das Repúblicas Americanas, (Joint Advisory Board on the American Republics - JAB) cobrindo o período 1940-1945. O comitê estava encarregado de propor e executar políticas ligadas à Defesa Hemisférica a serem desenvolvidas em conjunto com os países da América Latina na guerra e no pós-guerra. Abstract From World War II to the Cold War: US military policies for Latin America (1943-1947) The text interprets the performance of US military and diplomatic organizations dedicated to Latin America. The context is that of the transition from World War II to the Cold War. The empirical basis is composed of different documents maintained in the US National Archives of the collection of the Joint Advisory Board of the American Republics (JAB) covering the period 1940-1945. The committee was charged with proposing and implementing policies related to Hemispheric Defense to be developed jointly with the Latin American countries in war and postwar. Resumen De la Segunda Guerra Mundial a la Guerra Fría: políticas militares estadounidenses para América Latina (1943-1947) El texto interpreta la actuación de las organizaciones militares y diplomáticas estadounidenses dedicadas a América Latina. El contexto es el de la transición de la Segunda Guerra Mundial a la Guerra Fría. La base empírica está compuesta por diferentes documentos mantenidos en los Archivos Nacionales de los Estados Unidos (US National Archives) del acervo del Comité Consultivo Conjunto de las Repúblicas Americanas (JAB) cubriendo el período 1940-1945. El comité estaba encargado de proponer y ejecutar políticas vinculadas a la Defensa Hemisférica a ser desarrolladas en conjunto con los países de América Latina en la guerra y en la posguerra.

Latin American Trade Relations

1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Shirley Christian
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Cold War

There has always been a certain attitude in Washington having to do with Latin America. It is that Latin America is not quite a grown-up place and, therefore, is worthy of intense US interest only when the region, or part of it, falls into a crisis that crosses paths with one of the US hot-button issues of the moment: drugs, immigration, human rights, communism (until recently) and, farther back, fascism. In other words, Latin America has been worthy of attention only when the United States decided to “do good” (e.g., human rights crusades), incorporate the region into efforts at solving US domestic problems (e.g., drugs), or needed firm support from the region in some international effort (e.g., the Cold War and World War II).

Not Quite British: A Study of External Influences on the Argentine Navy

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varun Sahni
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Behaviour ◽  
Political Studies ◽  
Military Institutions ◽  
Naval Officers

Political studies of military institutions in Latin America have tended to lay heavy stress on their external linkages, with a good deal of emphasis being placed upon the ‘differential degrees of dependence upon other countries for supplies, parts, training and equipment by the various service branches’. This particularly the case when scholars attempt to explain why two military institutions differ in their political behaviour and ideological orientation. Thus, we find Lieuwen asserting that[t]he aristocratic tendencies of [Latin American] naval officers… often were moderated by the democratic views of the British and United States officers who were their professional advisers. Conversely, before World War II, authoritarian attitudes of some Latin American armies were reinforced by the influence of German, Spanish, and Italian military missions.

Cambodia: Armed Forces Under Personalized Control

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. Chambers
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
Civilian Control ◽  
World War ◽  
Critical Juncture ◽  
Organizational History ◽  
The Military ◽  
Supreme Commander

The evolution of Cambodia’s armed forces has been incremental yet highly disjointed, reflecting the country’s post–World War II history itself. At the same time, there has been a legacy of military authoritarianism in Cambodia. Using the framework of historical institutionalism, this chapter looks at the evolution of Cambodia’s armed forces across time. The chapter points to a 1979 critical juncture which affected the military’s organizational history. It also stresses that especially since 1997 the armed forces has become increasingly concentrated under the personalized control of Prime Minister Hun Sen. The military in 2020 appears as a mechanism of Hun Sen’s, doing his bidding and following his preferences. As such the armed forces in Cambodia should be viewed as an interventionist military that has acted as the junior partner in an asymmetrical relationship with Hun Sen. With Hun Sen’s 2018 appointment of his son Hun Manet to command the army, concurrent with being deputy supreme commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, it appears as though the military is becoming even further centralized under the Hun family. As a result, although civilian control over the military technically exists in Cambodia today, it is not an institutionalized, accountable form of control, but rather an unofficial, tool of violent power for the Prime Minister.

Dependency Theory in Latin American History

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Reyes Hernández ◽  
Miguel Alejandro López López
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Import Substitution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Development Theory ◽  
Dependency Theory ◽  
World War ◽  
The United Nations

This article examines dependency theory, focusing especially on Latin America. Dependency theory includes different currents of thought stemming from analysis of extensive findings from literature, conferences, and discussions. Although it is of global dimensions, it has achieved greater impact in Latin America. At the end of the two world wars, many important colonial empires fell, including, after World War I, the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires, and, after World War II, those that belonged to Great Britain and France, among others. After World War II, the United States of America emerged as a hegemonic power. In this context, new nation-states emerged in the wake of many years of colonial or semi-colonial status. They included China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Movements of national liberation in Asia and Africa; the emergence of new economies and polities influenced by colonialism and neocolonialism; criticisms arising from trends of thoughts in international organizations such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); and the aspirations for political and economic independence in Latin America achieved, in part, by implementing import substitution industrialization policies are expressions of a new reality that set in the wider context of the Cold War. In the social sciences, this reality is reflected in the appearance of topics under the term development theory, in which concepts such as economic backwardness, underdevelopment, modernization, and dependency are treated. Since the 1960s, dependency theory seeks to explain the characteristics of dependent development in Latin America, although it also includes consideration of Asia and Africa. Dependency theory responds to a different economic and social reality in Latin America, Asia, and Africa in comparison to developed countries. International capitalism developed such that some countries secured dominant positions early on, and others, including those in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, dependent ones later on. This article is characterized by two central features. First, the roots of the term and the concepts that underlie it are treated. Debates about the development of capitalism in underdeveloped societies and criticisms of the dominant economic theory in international trade (neoclassical economy) are considered. Second, emphasis is placed in the article on the fundamental part played by Latin America in theories on the origins of dependency theory and in the literature that has emerged on it.

Interservice Competition and the Political Roles of the Armed Services

1961 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel P. Huntington
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Civilian Control ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Establishment ◽  
Shipbuilding Industry ◽  
The Military

“Conventional wisdom” (to purloin a phrase from Galbraith) holds that interservice competition necessarily undermines economy, efficiency, and effective central control in the military establishment. The remedy is further unification, possibly even the merger of the services into a single uniform. The conventional wisdom also holds that political action by military groups necessarily threatens civilian control. The remedy is to “keep the military out of politics.” The pattern of American military politics and interservice rivalry since World War II, however, suggests that the conventional wisdom may err in its analysis of their results and falter in its prescription of remedies.Service political controversy between the world wars had two distinguishing characteristics. First, on most issues, a military service, supported, perhaps, by a few satellite groups, struggled against civilian isolationists, pacifists, and economizers. The Navy and the shipbuilding industry fought a lonely battle with the dominant forces in both political parties over naval disarmament. The Army lost its fight for universal service after World War I, and throughout the Twenties clashed with educational, labor, and religious groups over ROTC and with other groups over industrial mobilization preparation. In the annual budget encounters the issue usually was clearly drawn between service supporters who stressed preparedness and their opponents who decried the necessity and the legitimacy of substantial military expenditures. To the extent that the services were in politics, they were involved in conflicts with civilian groups.

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