Containing Latin America provides a fresh interpretive history of the making and remaking of Latin America and the US from the Long Cold War to the Global Cold War (1910–1991), exploring how geopolitics created enduring patterns in inter-American relations.
Containing Latin America provides a fresh interpretive history of the making and remaking of Latin America and the United States from the Long Cold War to the Global Cold War (1910–1991), exploring how geopolitics created enduring patterns in inter-American relations.
Berger argues that while each Latin American nation-state followed diverse historical trajectories—contrasting Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina—these differences unfolded within broader Cold War frameworks that shaped the entire hemisphere. Central to this analysis is an examination of how the state was understood during this period as a contested historical institution that provided the major arena for national and international politics, consistently determining which ideological, social, and cultural groups gained political access. The volume discusses pivotal moments including the Guatemalan Revolution, the Alliance for Progress, and the Cuban Revolution, and a compelling epilogue takes readers to the present day, examining the continued tension between visions of a common hemispheric future in a globalized world on the one hand and actual inter-American power relations on the other.
This concise yet informative history provides an invaluable resource for students, scholars, and general readers interested in Latin American history, global history, international relations, and development studies.
Introduction: The State and the Geopolitics of Development from the Long
Cold War to the Global Cold War in the Americas
1. Long Cold War Rising: The
Coming of the Global Cold War, 19101991
2. The Fight for the Free World: The
Global Cold War and the Making of Latin America, 19451959
3. The Mirage of
Modernization: The Global Cold War and the Remaking of Latin America,
19591968
4. The Age of Authoritarianism and after: The Global Cold War and
the Unmaking of Latin America,
19681991. EpilogueGrinding the Gears of
Globalization: The Vagaries of US Hegemony, Pan Americanism, and Post-Cold
War Capitalism, 1990s2020s. Conclusion: Containing Latin America
Mark T. Berger taught history for 40 years at the University of New South Wales (Sydney) and the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, California), as well as the University of British Columbia (Vancouver and Okanagan), the University of the South Pacific (Suva), and Murdoch University (Perth). He is widely published with over 70 articles on history and international relations. He is also the author of Under Northern Eyes: Latin American Studies and US Hegemony in the Americas, 18981990 (1995) and The Battle for Asia: From Decolonization to Globalization (2004). He is also a co-author with Heloise Weber of Rethinking the Third World: International Development and World Politics (2014).
