Lars Schoultz is William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of five books on U.S. policy toward Latin America. Schoultz has been President of the Latin American Studies Association and has held research fellowships from the Ford Foundation, Fulbright-Hays Program, MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and National Humanities Center.

This excellent study breaks new ground in a field so cluttered that one usually harbours very low expectations of originality, style and fresh scholarship. Schoultz, a political scientist hitherto best known for his study of human rights, has written a lucid history that derives much of its strength precisely from its understanding of the conservative and expansionist presumptions of those who have formulated and implemented US policy towards the rest of the continent since independence. This, though, is not an understanding assumed with the ease that one generally finds in texts on this topic; here it is based on meticulous research of primary documentation...Schoultz's knowledge of the sources comes through in the excellent use of quotation within a briskly written and delightfully jargon-free prose. He is understandably interested in politics before all else, but there is enough economics here to satisfy the non-expert...Of the plethora of single-volume studies of this vital subject, Lars Schoultz's is easily the best.

• Preface Encountering Latin America Acquiring Northern Mexico Struggling over Slavery in the Caribbean Ending an Era: Regional Hegemony over a Defective People Beginning a New Era: The Imperial Mentality Testing the Imperial Waters: Confronting Chile Excluding Great Britain: The Venezuela Boundary Dispute Establishing an Empire: Cuba and the War with Spain Creating a Country, Building a Canal Chastising Chronic Wrongdoing Providing Benevolent Supervision: Dollar Diplomacy Continuing to Help in the Most Practical Way Possible Removing the Marines, Installing the Puppets Establishing the Foundations of Honorable Intercourse Becoming a Good Neighbor Attacking Dictatorships Combatting Communism with Friendly Dictators Combatting Communism with Economic Development Two Centuries Later Sources Notes Index

Lars Schoultz is William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of five books on U.S. policy toward Latin America. Schoultz has been President of the Latin American Studies Association and has held research fellowships from the Ford Foundation, Fulbright-Hays Program, MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and National Humanities Center.

This excellent study breaks new ground in a field so cluttered that one usually harbours very low expectations of originality, style and fresh scholarship. Schoultz, a political scientist hitherto best known for his study of human rights, has written a lucid history that derives much of its strength precisely from its understanding of the conservative and expansionist presumptions of those who have formulated and implemented US policy towards the rest of the continent since independence. This, though, is not an understanding assumed with the ease that one generally finds in texts on this topic; here it is based on meticulous research of primary documentation...Schoultz's knowledge of the sources comes through in the excellent use of quotation within a briskly written and delightfully jargon-free prose. He is understandably interested in politics before all else, but there is enough economics here to satisfy the non-expert...Of the plethora of single-volume studies of this vital subject, Lars Schoultz's is easily the best.

• Preface Encountering Latin America Acquiring Northern Mexico Struggling over Slavery in the Caribbean Ending an Era: Regional Hegemony over a Defective People Beginning a New Era: The Imperial Mentality Testing the Imperial Waters: Confronting Chile Excluding Great Britain: The Venezuela Boundary Dispute Establishing an Empire: Cuba and the War with Spain Creating a Country, Building a Canal Chastising Chronic Wrongdoing Providing Benevolent Supervision: Dollar Diplomacy Continuing to Help in the Most Practical Way Possible Removing the Marines, Installing the Puppets Establishing the Foundations of Honorable Intercourse Becoming a Good Neighbor Attacking Dictatorships Combatting Communism with Friendly Dictators Combatting Communism with Economic Development Two Centuries Later Sources Notes Index