This book, continuing the narrative begun by the author in two preceding volumes, provides a clear description of military combat occurring in Latin America for the years from 1982 into mid-2013. Although the text concentrates on combat operations, matters of politics, business and international relations appear as necessary to understand the wars. The author has uncovered many previously unknown sources to provide new information never published before. The book traces the many insurgencies in Latin America as well as conventional wars. Among the highlights are the chapters on the Falklands War and the U.S. invasions of Grenada and Panama. One useful aspect of the text is an explanation of why, of the many insurgencies appearing in Latin America, only those in Cuba and Nicaragua were successful in overthrowing governments. The book also helps explain why even unsuccessful insurgencies have survived for decades, as has happened in Colombia and Peru. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Foreign capital and free trade policies have provoked fierce conflicts in South America in recent years. People in Colombia and Peru engaged in often violent clashes to defend their livelihoods against the encroachments of the free market and the impositions of Wall Street. Farmers organized to save their lands from foreign mining corporations, and cities fought to save their water from contamination. Native Americans blocked highways to preserve ancestral lands, while students paralyzed universities and called for reforms to higher education. The shift toward socialism in Venezuela, led by President Hugo Chavez, was bitterly opposed by privileged groups. Governments tried to quell the turmoil through repression, political maneuvering and propaganda. This book provides a dramatic account of the struggles.

A comprehensive history and comparative analysis of the most important Caribbean armed revolutionary movements during the Cold War era.

Understanding Central America explains how domestic, global, political and economic forces have shaped rebellion and regime change in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras throughout their histories, during the often-turbulent 1970s and since. The text provides students a comprehensive coverage of Central America, political science, and international relations. The authors explain the origins and development of the region's political conflicts, their resolution and ongoing political change. This Sixth Edition provides the most up-to-date information on the recent political changes in each of the five countries presented.

Contrary to the common belief that peace and democracy go hand in hand after a civil war, Pereira Watts argues they are, in fact, at a crossroads. Offering an innovative framework based on Philosophical, Actors, and Tactical considerations, Pereira Watts identifies 14 dynamic dilemmas in democratic peacebuilding, with respective trade-offs. She focuses on explaining the contradictions in modern post-conflict recovery, the challenges facing interim governments, and the international community’s role. Based on an analysis of more than 40 countries between 1989 and 2022 and more than 60 UN peace operations, she presents critical issues that commonly need to be addressed in such scenarios: Elections and Political Parties; the Constitution; Checks, Balances and Power-sharing; Transitional Justice; Human Rights, Amnesty, Truth Commissions and War Crimes Tribunals; Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration; and Media Reform and Civil Society. Solving any of these dilemmas leads to others that shape a complex apparatus for restoring peace and installing a new political regime. An essential resource for decision-takers, policymakers, international analysts and practitioners in the field of peacebuilding that will also be of great value to students of International Relations and Peace Studies as well as anyone interested in peacekeeping, democracy-building, and state-building.

For Latin America, the Cold War was anything but cold. Nor was it the so-called Òlong peaceÓ afforded the worldÕs superpowers by their nuclear standoff. In this book, the first to take an international perspective on the postwar decades in the region, Hal Brands sets out to explain what exactly happened in Latin America during the Cold War, and why it was so traumatic. Tracing the tumultuous course of regional affairs from the late 1940s through the early 1990s, Latin AmericaÕs Cold War delves into the myriad crises and turning points of the periodÑthe Cuban revolution and its aftermath; the recurring cycles of insurgency and counter-insurgency; the emergence of currents like the National Security Doctrine, liberation theology, and dependency theory; the rise and demise of a hemispheric diplomatic challenge to U.S. hegemony in the 1970s; the conflagration that engulfed Central America from the Nicaraguan revolution onward; and the democratic and economic reforms of the 1980s. Most important, the book chronicles these events in a way that is both multinational and multilayered, weaving the experiences of a diverse cast of characters into an understanding of how global, regional, and local influences interacted to shape Cold War crises in Latin America. Ultimately, Brands exposes Latin AmericaÕs Cold War as not a single conflict, but rather a series of overlapping political, social, geostrategic, and ideological struggles whose repercussions can be felt to this day.

Tracing the U.S. government's efforts to shape the armed forces of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean from 2000 to 2014, this narrative concentrates on the Army but also discusses Air Force and naval forces, including the Marines and the Coast Guard. Police forces in those regions are also covered. Mexico's ongoing struggle with drug cartels is discussed extensively. Venezuela and Cuba receive considerable attention. This study is the first to examine in detail the armed forces of countries such as the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Sections on Haiti and Panama, countries supposedly without armies, reveal the decisive role the U.S. has played in determining their military policies. The text weaves the histories of these armed forces into the broader context of the politics, economics and international relations in the region. A clear and brief introduction to the relations of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean with the United States is provided.

Informed by Eric Wolf’s Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century, published in 1969, this book examines selected peasant struggles in seven Latin American countries during the last fifty years and suggests the continuing relevance of Wolf’s approach. The seven case studies are preceded by an Introduction in which the editors assess the continuing relevance of Wolf’s political economy. The book concludes with Gavin Smith’s reflection on reading Eric Wolf as a public intellectual today.

"The conflict in Nicaragua is one of the leastunderstood struggles of the Cold War. . . . This account clarifies the central issue and dispelsmany lingering myths." --Zbigniew Breinski,National Security Advisor during the Carter administration