United States-Latin American Relations or

Latin America in the World

                                                            Political Science 257

 

Prof. Kris Thalhammer                  Class times: M, W, F  2:00-2:55, Holland Hall 413

Office: 103F Holland Hall              Office Hours: Tues. 9:30-11,  Fri. 9-10 & by appointment       

Office phone: x3528                                   Home: 645-9040

(I welcome calls at home—at a reasonable hour, of course!) 

                                     

Course overview:

This course is designed to give you an overview of the history of interactions between the United States and Latin American states and to look at some of the long-standing and emerging connections between Latin American countries and other state and non-state actors. Through this course, you will become familiar with some of the frameworks for understanding patterns of political interactions in this hemisphere. A major focus of this analysis will be assessing two contending rationales for US policies in the region: expanding of democracy and expanding of economic opportunity. Using case studies, we will assess these and other explanations for why relations between countries in this hemisphere evolved as they did and are as they are.

 

Throughout this course you will be responsible for doing the assigned readings and for staying abreast of current affairs that are related to this course.  For each chapter or article assigned, you should be able to summarize the author's main points or arguments and discuss the material covered during classroom discussions and activities. 

 

Required texts:

 

There are two required texts for this course:

 

·        Michael La Rosa and Frank Mora, Neighborly Adversaries: Readings in U.S.-Latin American Relations, Rowman and Littlefiled Publishers, 1999.

·        Peter Smith, Talons of the Eagle, Oxford University Press, 2000.

 

There is one recommended text for this course:

 

Goodwin, P., ed. Global Studies: Latin America, Guilford, Conn.: Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.   (NOTE: This text is intended for your use throughout the semester whenever you require basic background information on a country being discussed in class or in the readings.  For example, before we begin oral reports, you will be expected to read background information on the countries that your classmates will be discussing.)  This text is optional, but is strongly recommended for those who have not studied Latin America in the past.  You may find that sharing copies of this text with a classmate works well.

 

There will also be a number of readings available online to supplement the texts.  This is referred to below as CoPac (short for online course pack).

 

Evaluation:

            Your grade in this course will be based on a combination of general class participation, written and oral reports, and two examinations.  Each of you will select one country of special interest to you and research it extensively.  Based on your research, you will write two papers (approximately five to seven typed pages each).  The first part of your paper will discuss the major actors and influences affecting foreign policy decision-making in "your" country and describe the interaction between your country and the United States during a select period of time.  For example, you might select Haiti, Panama or Grenada during the period leading up to and including the most recent U.S. military invasions.  In the second half you will analyze the episode you described previously in light of the various theories covered in this class, which purport to explain foreign relations in this part of the world.  For each of these papers, you will present your findings to the class.  There will also be in-class Midterm and Final Examinations. 

 

            The weight of each assignment is listed below.

            Annotated bibliography and thesis statement                10 %

            Paper                                                                          30 %

            Oral Report                                                                 5 %

            Midterm exam                                                                      30 %

            Final Exam                                                                20 %

            Class participation                                                      5 %

 

Calendar:

Part One: Historical Context of Interaction with Europe and North America        

 

Sept. 5            Introduction

Sept. 8-10       Pre-European and colonial period 

                        Read Smith, ch.1

Sept.12           Independence and new statehood

Sept. 15          Evolution of relations between the United States and Latin America (L&M part I)

Sept.  17-19  The Monroe Doctrine and 19th Century US expansionism Topics for papers due to class on Sept. 17: email your choice to poli-sci-257@stolaf.edu.

Sept. 22          Read Smith ch.2; Black CoPac #1.

Sept. 24          Meet in Bibliographic Instruction Room in the Library for instructional session

Sept. 26          Read L&M Part II

Sept. 29          From 20th Century Interventionism to the Good Neighbor                               Read Smith, ch. 3

Oct. 1              Read L&M Part II

Oct 2               Special opportunity FILM:  "Capital Sins" Thursday night, Viking Theatre,6:45-9:00pm

Oct. 3              L. American responses to imperialism

                        Read Smith, ch.4; O’Brien, ch. 3

Oct. 6-8           L. Am. Revolutions and U.S. Intervention (Bolivia, Cuba, Guatemala)

                        Read L&M Part IV

 

 

Thursday, October 9,  6:45-9:00 p.m. Viking Theatre GUEST PRESENTATION: Prof. Alfred Montero, Carleton College, "Can Lula Make a Difference?: Globalization for Brazilian Democracy and Development" (This is required and substitutes for class on Oct. 10.  If you are not able to attend, let me know in advance and we will try to record the session for you.)

Oct. 10            No Class

Oct. 13                        Midterm Examination

   

The Cold War                      

            Oct. 15            Read Smith, chapters  5 and  6

            Oct. 17                        Read L&M, Part V

Fall Break NO class on October 20th.  Enjoy your freedom!

            Oct. 20                        Read Smith, chapters 7-8, Kornbluh (CoPac #2)

            Oct. 22            Finalized Topics and Annotated Bibliographies  are due for your research papers

                                    Post Cold War foreign relations

                                    Read Smith, ch. 9

            Oct. 24                        Post Cold War relations

                                    Read Smith, ch. 10

 

Part Two: Actors, Goals of Relations between States, and Models for Understanding

Oct. 27-29       Actors and factors is U.S. foreign policy decision-making regarding Latin America

            Oct. 27            Read Wiarda, Copac #3

            Oct.  29           Allison and Halperin CoPac #4.

            Oct.  31           Read  Hsiang, CoPac#5

Nov. 3            Actors and Factors in Latin American States' Foreign Policy Making

                                    Read Atkins, CoPac #6; L&M, Part VI

 

Nov. 5            Goals of foreign policy: morality, security and stability,  economics

            Nov. 5            Morality and foreign policy          

                                    Read Cingranelli, CoPac#6.5

            Nov. 7-10       National security and human rights violations

            Nov. 12          Pion-Berlin, CoPac#7

            Nov. 14          Sikkink, CoPac #8 and Delgado-P, CoPac #9

Nov. 17-21:   Economic interests as foreign policy goals

            Nov. 17          Reading TBA

            Nov. 19          Read Graham and Masson Copac #10

            Nov. 21          Read Katz CoPac #11, Mahon, CoPac #12

Nov. 24-Dec. 1  Controlling borders’ permeability: drugs, immigration, etc.

            Nov. 24 Drugs and crime, Read Smith, ch. 11; L&M, ch. 19, Tickner, CoPAc #13

            Dec. 1 Immigration issues, Read Guillen CoPac #14 and  Mitchell(in Martz) CoPac #15

             

Dec. 3  Stability through the spread of democracy?

            Readings to be announced

 

Dec. 5 Latin America and other world actors:  Europe, Asia and the former USSR

                        Read Atkins, CoPac#16

Dec. 8:   Papers due:  Oral Reports

Dec. 10:   More oral reports

Note:              Additional readings may be assigned (probably as substitutes for those already on the syllabus), depending on students' interest in Plan Colombia, Mexican immigration issues, the stability of the Peso, the FTAA or other topics.  Please let me know if a particular issue is of interest to you!

 

Final exam time will be announced.   St. Olaf policy requires that you attend your final at the time scheduled.

 

Academic misconduct: For the purposes of this class, any act that violates the rights of another student in academic work or that misrepresents your own work is considered academic misconduct and is not permitted.  This includes cheating on assignments, plagiarizing (which means misrepresenting the work of another as your own), and submitting the same paper or substantially similar papers to fulfill the requirements of more than one class without the prior approval of both instructors.  All students are expected to abide by St. Olaf’s honor code.

 

                        Academic Accommodations: Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak with me during the first two weeks of class.  All discussions will remain confidential.  Such students also need to contact Student Disability Services in the Academic Support Center in Room 1 of the Old Main Annex.