The US in the 1950s and 1960s wanted to prevent a new communist regime in the Western hemisphere at any cost. Under President Eisenhower the US pursued a policy of support for dictators, the economic shoring up of regimes that impoverished their own people and sanctioned direct interventions such as the overthrow of the Guatemalan government in 1954. When John F. Kennedy came to power, he promised a reset of relations and set about pouring aid into Latin America. Yet in 1961 Kennedy also attempted to intervene in Central American domestic politics with the Bay of Pigs operation. How far was each of the approaches pursued by the two administrations responsible for increasing tensions and encouraging radicalism on the continent? In answering this question Bevan Sewell shows how Eisenhower's strategic stance on the Cold War became increasingly detrimental to Latin America over time, and shows how similar policies were continued by the Kennedy administration. The US and Latin America provides a new lens through which to assess US policy towards Latin America at an important time in inter-American relations.

Dr. Peterson's book is the first, in English or Spanish, to encompass the entire sweep of Argentine-American relations from the time of Argentina's revolt against Spain in 1810 to the close of its 150th year of independence. Through comprehensive analysis and narrative, this study illuminates one of the most enigmatic areas of Western Hemisphere relationships. From what would seem to be a bewildering array of incidents, Professor Peterson isolates the basic undercurrents which mold Argentine policies. Internally, Argentina's path to stability is shown to be marred by developing social stratification and conflict, economic mismanagement, and the deep uncertainty of shifts from dictatorship to democracy. Internationally, the germs of discord with the United States are found in nationalism, anticolonialism, desire for hemispheric leadership, and economic competition. Discussed, too, are the fascinating, crucial weaknesses and errors of human leadership in both countries. Argentina and the United States 1810-1960 makes an important contribution to an understanding of current, as well as historical, affairs: it greatly helps to explain why in the twentieth century the government and people of the United States frequently face an "Argentine problem."