Latin America and the Shifting Sands of Global Power: Introduction to a Special Issue

Since the introduction of the Monroe Doctrine, Latin America has been seen as the preserve of the United States, a region subject to the whims of Washington, beholden to the financial markets of New York. This pattern held throughout the Twentieth Century, with U.S. direct and covert intervention playing a critical role in numerous unscheduled regime changes. Economic fortunes rode on the appraisal of U.S. government technocrats and their quiet whispers to colleagues at the IMF, World Bank and Wall Street. Today, the reality is somewhat different. The United States still matters, but it no longer dominates. Benediction from Washington is no longer an essential political good (or curse). Regional economies continue to look North, but they also increasingly turn to neighbouring countries and new markets in Asia and throughout the South. The result is a change in the international influences on Latin America and a corresponding shift in how regional countries see themselves inserted into the international system. Moreover, there is no single approach in Latin America to the emerging global system. Different countries throughout the Americas are approaching the new regional and international realities in different, disparate and sometimes competing ways...