Is There Any Room for Latin America in US Foreign Policy?

All through the Cold War US foreign policy approached Latin America and the Caribbean through the lens of the East–West confrontation. With the implosion of the Soviet bloc – and the Soviet Union – this approach became outdated. Since then, US foreign policy towards the region has moved through several regional goals, from promoting economic hemispheric integration under the aegis of neoliberal economic policies to fostering so-called market democracies together with fighting drug trafficking. In the aftermath of 9/11, fighting terrorism in the region became the central objective of the US government approach to the rest of the world, with most of policy resources addressed toward regions and actors quite far away from the western hemisphere. While shifting concerns from US foreign policy-makers can be interpreted as downgrading Latin America from a previous higher position in the US government agenda, they can also be understood as enlarging the room for Latin American countries to advance alternative development strategies more in tune with the demands of their populations as well as building or strengthening intra-Latin America agreements at both government and civil society levels – as long as they are not seen by the US government as obstacles to its war against terrorism.