Whirlpool

Description

Robert Pastor maintains that the collapse of Communism is less important in permitting the United States to escape the whirlpool of Latin American politics than are the new trends of democracy and freer trade in the region.

Director of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs on the National Security Council from 1977 to 1981, Robert A. Pastor is now Professor of Political Science at Emory University and Fellow at Emory’s Carter Center. Between 1989 and 1992, he organized electoral observation missions by the council of Freely-Elected Heads of Government, chaired by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Guyana. “An impressive volume. . . . A significant contribution to rethinking U.S. relations with our closest neighbors.”—Abraham F. Lowenthal, Foreign Affairs “[Pastor is] probing, knowledgeable, interesting. . . . [His] argument in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement is powerful and persuasive–and refreshing.”—Piero Gleijeses, The Washington Post Book World “Pastor has occupied one of the more illuminating vantage points for examining Washington’s vexing relations with its southern neighbors. . . . [His] goal is to help construct a new United States policy, shifting away from reflexive, sometimes covert interventions and from economic handouts.”—Clifford Krauss, The New York Times Book Review “Dr. Pastor’s book provides important insights into the complex historical relationship between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean. By isolating the excessive weight of ideological elements that dominated inter-American links during the Cold War, Dr. Pastor allows us to see in a fresh light the pattern of hope and error in our cyclical and unequal agenda.”—Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Former Secretary General of the United Nations“As we move into the post-Cold War phase of international relations, the analysis and policy recommendations contained in this excellent, timely book will help all of us who are trying to think through the implications of this new period for U.S. national security policy.”—Sam Nunn, Chairman, Senate Committee on Armed Services“A magnificent contribution to understanding U.S.-Latin America relations and for offering a provocative vision of the relationship in the twenty-first century.”—Raul Alfonsín, Former President of Argentina