President Hugo Chavez has used the windfall of high oil prices to remake Venezuela internally along the model of 21st-century socialism and, even more audaciously, to rewrite global relations by directly challenging U.S. hegemony. The dramatic ascendency of the country in hemispheric and global international relations over the past decade is the subject of this title.

Oil makes up one-third of Venezuela's entire GDP, and the United States is far and away Venezuela's largest trading partner. Relations between Venezuela and the United States, traditionally close for most of the last two centuries, began to fray as the end of the Cold War altered the international environment. U.S.-Venezuela Relations since the 1990s explores relations between these two countries since 1999, when Hugo Chavez came to office and proceeded to change Venezuela's historical relation with the United States and other democracies. The authors analyze the reasons for rising bilateral conflict, the decision-making process in Venezuela, the role played by public and private actors in shaping foreign policy, the role of other powers such as China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in shaping U.S.-Venezuelan relations, the role of Venezuela in Cuba and Colombia, and the impact of broader international dynamics in the bi-lateral relations.

This in-depth study provides a timely assessment of how the foreign, military, and security policies of Venezuela shape relations with the United States in the Chavez era. The growing importance of Venezuela in the global oil market along with the controversial nature of its leadership provoke concern among some world powers—especially the United States, whose international policies have been heavily criticized by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. This critical look at American/Venezuelan relations presents perceptions held by each government of the other and examines the sources of tensions—and points of confluence—between the two countries. Global Security Watch—Venezuela traces the political relations between the United States and Venezuela from the early roots based in Pan Americanism to the domestic and foreign policies of the Chavez regime, including petro-diplomacy. This book provides a serious examination of the allegations about Venezuelan involvement in the drug trade, terrorism, and intervention; the view that the unilateralism of the United States threatens world peace; and the future of relations between the two countries.

Oil makes up one-third of Venezuela's entire GDP, and the United States is far and away Venezuela's largest trading partner. Relations between Venezuela and the United States, traditionally close for most of the last two centuries, began to fray in the last decade as the end of the Cold War altered the international environment. The United States and Venezuela attempts to place the events of the past ten years in historical perspective and to explain the reasons why the changes occurred. It also examines the impact of new actors on the international scene: drug traffickers, common citizens, human rights and environmental activists and the media.

This book details the diplomatic relations between the United States and Venezuela during a pivotal time in world history. Through the utilization of archival materials and newspaper accounts, the author highlights the words of the major participants to demonstrate how the two nations worked together – sometimes hand-in-hand, sometimes face-to-face – to prevent the European War from spreading to the Western Hemisphere. Despite several efforts to develop hemispheric unity during the War, Venezuelan leaders perceived the policy of neutrality to be in the best interest of the country's national sovereignty. This book explores the personalities of the chief executives and selected diplomats to illustrate how both personnel and personalities molded their nation’s foreign relations. In the end, while perceived as two very different individuals who pursued different paths during the global conflict, the leadership styles of President Woodrow Wilson and General Juan Vicente Gómez were more alike than they realized. The overall cordial relations between the two nations during the period under review helped establish the foundation for the petroleum bonanza that United States companies would enjoy in the following years.