American financial institutions such as the government, banks and nonprofit organizations have had a long history of giving economic aid to developing nations to prevent large-scale economic collapse and for reconstruction after disasters. This is especially the case after World War II and the Bretton Woods Conference, which was the foreground for what today is the World Bank. The United States has failed to improve nations at times when providing aid to other countries and regions, especially in regions such as Latin America. A prime example of this type of failure was the development and implementation of an economic aid system, named the Washington Consensus. Countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico suffered greatly for many years because, “what had been sold in the early 1980s as a foolproof ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution was shown to be very uneven”(Dunkerly 2008 310). Flawed developmental policy such as this, created a terrible economic collapse for nearly all of Latin America, which is still changing policy to recover from the 1980s crisis today. Similarly, when Central and South America’s economy declined, US foreign policy also began to change to reflect the problems being caused between the two regions. Overall, this paper will define what the Washington Consensus is and how it affected American foreign policy concerning Latin America in areas such as developmental aid models, immigration and illegal drugs. By looking back at such failures we are able to change the way aid is distributed in a more positive and effective way.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s there was a shift in American political ideology when it came to the international market place, economic policy and providing aid to developing countries...
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...fairs. 10 (2), p245-256.
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With the 1960s and 1970s, came a growing need for change among the American people. A previously dominant liberal government was not taking a hard enough stance on the fight to end communism. All it took, was a final nudge to shift the vote from democratic to republican.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States, taking over the country from President Carter. Many issues existed when Reagan took office, during his presidency more would follow and continue into the George H. W. Bush presidency. Marc Cornman who was a young family man during both of these administrations recalls the problems and benefits of the mid to late 1980’s. His family was low-income building their way up to middle class by the Clinton Administration, moving from state to state hoping to find better employment after leaving the military. The main aspects of the economy, social issues and global conflicts during President Reagan’s 1980-88 and President Bush’s first two years of his administration and the positive and negative effects they had.
For the past century, the United States has been regarded as the greatest hegemonic power in the world. The U.S. played the most important role in the advancement of mankind from social, political, scientific, military, and economic standpoint. Unfortunately, today this is no longer true. Since the 1980’s the U.S. has been on a gradual decline. The introduction and implementation of trickle down economics, otherwise known as “Reaganomics,” has contributed greatly to the systemic dismantling of the socioeconomic structure that made America great.
Nash, Gary and Julie Jeffrey. "Foreign Policy in a Global Age." The American People Volume Two: Since 1865. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2011. 743-744. Print.
In the late1960’s American politics were shifting at a National level with liberalism being less supported as its politics were perceived as flawed, both by people on the left who thought that liberalism was not as effective as more radical political enterprises and by conservatives who believed that liberal politics were ostensibly crippling the American economy.
From the time of the Spanish American war until the beginning of the Cold War the United States went from relative isolation to increased global involvement because of 1 utopian thinking, 2 business expansion, and 3 changes in foreign policy. The consequences on American society of that greater involvement were 4 America’s development into an “international police power”.
...a, from containment to rollback in Korea; welcoming European integration because it portended the creation of an economic unit that encouraged technological innovation; building a configuration of power in the international system, nurturing free markets while safeguarding American interests, a constant in Washington for more than 35 years; and, free political economy at home were just a few of the strategic methods used to change, influence, and shape American domestic policy (Leffler, The Specter of Communism,100-129).
Reagan’s foreign policy intention was to eliminate the efforts of the Soviet Union to prolong its domination and from this time, he opted for the formulation of his doctrine to aid the rebels who in various countries of the world who were attempting to overthrown the Soviet regimes (Carpenter, 1986). Relative to this point, it must be mentioned that in distinction to the earlier Cold War doctrine of “inclosing”, Reagan’s Doctrine projected “American moral and material backing for rebellious actions trying to oust Soviet-backed regimes in various Third World nations” (Carpenter, 1986). Additionally, it must be stated that the Reagan Doctrine came into being as the outcome of the thwarting of the U.S. administration over the Soviet progresses in Africa, Central America, and Central Asia. “Just as the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and Chinese leader Mao reinforced armed revolutions against colonial or U.S.-aligned states, American power would now reassure and upkeep rebels against communist states” (“The Reagan Doctrine”,
Coerver, Don M., and Linda B. Hall. Tangled Destinies: Latin America & The United States. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 1999.
“Capitalism is a world system. But some of its parts have more than their share of leadership.”(Cardoso xxi). Latin America, like much of the third and second world has received far lesser dividends from the fruits of capitalism. In fact due to its close geographic location to the united states and its strong early history of colonialism Latin America is a shining example of how economic dependency has evolved. From its moment liberation Latin America has been seen as a economic tool by the west, particularly by the USA, and continues to be economically dominated to this day. From the Eve of conquest the region has used its economic power mostly to the benefit of another nation.
America, from the post-World War period to the 1970s. The post-world War Two period set the
“Decades of Change - 1960-1980.” Outline of U.S. History. U.S. Department of State. 2011. Web.
This essay will focus on the Reagan Administration which spanned from January 1981 to January 1989. When Reagan became President, he had only one well-defined foreign policy goal: containing the Soviet Union, or the “evil empire” as he once referred to it. He primarily wanted to stop the USSR from growing larger and to keep other non-Communist countries from becoming Communist. In the past, American presidents had used a theory called the “Domino Theory” to justify the need for intervention around the world. The theory speculated that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. Prior to the Reagan Administration, the United States had already made several attempts to fight the spread of C...
Overall, America’s foreign policy changed dramatically throughout the course of the 20th century. From the Monroe Doctrine to the Vietnam War, foreign policy has had a major impact on American society. It has shifted from not interfering with internal European affairs, to maintaining internal peace and security, to containing the spread of Communism, to playing ping pong with the Chinese to create and maintain trade with them. The idea of Foreign Policy has changed since it has started and will continue to change until the United States of America is no longer.
Kegley, Charles W., and Eugene R. Wittkopf. World Politics Trend and Transformation. New York: St. Martin's, 1981. Print.