Contemporary U.S.-Latin American Relations ─ Cooperation or Conflict in the 21st Century?

Drawing on the research and experience of fifteen internationally recognized Latin America scholars, this insightful text presents an overview of inter-American relations during the first two decades of the twenty-first century. This unique collection identifies broad changes in the international system that have had significant effects in the Western Hemisphere, including issues of politics and economics, the securitization of U.S. foreign policy, balancing U.S. primacy, the wider impact of the world beyond the Americas, especially the rise of China, and the complexities of relationships between neighbors.

The second edition of Contemporary U.S.-Latin American Relations focuses on U.S. neighbors near and far —Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. Each chapter addresses a country’s relations with the United States, and each considers themes that are unique to that country’s bilateral relations as well as those themes that are more general to the relations of Latin America as a whole. The book also features new chapters on transnational criminal violence, the Latino diasporas in the United States, and U.S.-Latin American migration. This cohesive and accessible volume is required reading for Latin American politics students and scholars alike.

Jorge I. Dominguez is the Antonio Madero Professor for the Study of Mexico and former Vice Provost for International Affairs at Harvard University. He is a past president of the Latin American Studies Association.

Rafael Fernandez de Castro has been Chair, Founder, and full-time Professor of the Department of International Studies, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM), Mexico City, since 1991.