Talons of the Eagle: Dynamics of U.S.-Latin American Relations

Rating:
Summary: First rate interdisciplinary approach to history.
Review: In this very readable historiacl survey of U.S.-Latin American realations, Smith develops a template which demonstrates the logic of U.S. policy and Latin American response within the context of the global situation. To accomplish this, he breaks history into three general time periods: 1790s-Cold War, The Cold War, and the post-Cold War. In each of these periods, Smith develops the global context or "rules of the game", then moves on to the resulting U.S. policy. He finishes each historical era with an incisive analysis of Latin American options for response. This book is a must for students of Latin America and certainly for those individuals whose activities, whether they be commercial or official in nature, are shaping the book's next chapter.