Kissinger and Latin America - by Stephen G Rabe (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

In Kissinger and Latin America, Stephen G. Rabe analyzes U.S. policies toward Latin America during a critical period of the Cold War. Except for the issue of Chile under Salvador Allende, historians have largely ignored inter-American relations during the presidencies of Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. Rabe also offers a way of adding to and challenging the prevailing historiography on one of the most preeminent policymakers in the history of U.S. foreign relations. Scholarly studies on Henry Kissinger and his policies between 1969 and 1977 have tended to survey Kissinger's approach to the world, with an emphasis on initiatives toward the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China and the struggle to extricate the United States from the Vietnam conflict. Kissinger and Latin America offers something new--analyzing U.S. policies toward a distinct region of the world during Kissinger's career as national security adviser and secretary of state.

Rabe further challenges the notion that Henry Kissinger dismissed relations with the southern neighbors. The energetic Kissinger devoted more time and effort to Latin America than any of his predecessors--or successors--who served as the national security adviser or secretary of state during the Cold War era. He waged war against Salvador Allende and successfully destabilized a government in Bolivia. He resolved nettlesome issues with Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela. He launched critical initiatives with Panama and Cuba. Kissinger also bolstered and coddled murderous military dictators who trampled on basic human rights. South American military dictators whom Kissinger favored committed international terrorism in Europe and the Western Hemisphere.

Review Quotes

With his 2020 book Kissinger and Latin America: Intervention, Human Rights, and Diplomacy, the experienced and productive historian Stephen Rabe provides a tremendous contribution to "Kissingerology."

In Kissinger and Latin America, Stephen Rabe uses declassified government documents to disabuse scholars of the notion that Latin America was not important to Kissinger's diplomacy. Kissinger and Latin America is a refreshing addition to the dense Kissinger historiography. Rabe expands on the work of other historians to make Latin America a focal point of Cold War diplomacy. A comprehensive and balanced study, this book should be read by any scholar of US foreign relations during the Cold War or anyone interested in Henry Kissinger's involvement in Latin American affairs

Stephen Rabe's most recent contribution represents something of a return to form... Rabe's book illuminates the contradictory nature of foreign policy during the Kissinger years.

About the Author

Stephen G. Rabe is Ashbel Smith Professor of History emeritus at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has written or edited twelve books, including The Killing Zone, John F. Kennedy, and U.S. Intervention in British Guiana.