U.S. Multilateralist Approach to Latin America

In this modern era of globalization, traditional conceptions of national sovereignty have changed, focusing now on international economic concerns based largely upon free-trade. In this new period of international relations between the United States and Latin America, militaristic interventions to restore political democracy are simply not prudent or necessary; the cold war has drawn to an indomitable close, democracy has been satisfactorily safeguarded, and regional conflicts are(thankfully) no longer in danger of being fueled or exacerbated by superpower competition and intervention(Bouzas, pps. 171-173).

The greatest international change affecting U.S.-Latin American relations today is perhaps the steady transformation of the world economy from a series of loosely connected national markets to an increasingly interdependent global one(Lowenthal, pp. 66). In this, the nature of multilateralism in international relations is changing; in an environment of collective action and free trade organizations, it is an increasingly difficult task to define the role of the United States in the burgeoning economy of the Western Hemisphere. Specifically, are collective action, national sovereignty, and United States leadership compatible goals in this new configuration? If we confine our interests abroad specifically to the achievement of economic(and not necessarily political) harmony, perhaps the United States may continue to enjoy its superpower status for decades to come.

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in an environment in which international cooperation among Western Hemisphere nations exists. The drug trade, protecting the environment, countering terrorism, combating the spread of AIDS, and curbing the spread of nuclear weapons may all be managed more effectively under an umbrella of multilateral commerce(Lowenthal, pp. 74). These aforementioned benefits to multilateralism surely protect the ability of the United States to advance its already prominent role in the Western Hemisphere. Admittedly, in the modern age, our prominence will rely on our ability to maintain a strong economy of our own. The end of the cold war dictates that our strategic concerns be social and economic, not militaristic and political(Lowenthal, pp. 70-71). And for this, we should be thankful. It is only in the sphere of economics that the United States may retain a degree of national sovereignty in Latin America. However, can our national sovereignty be protected as we promote international cooperation? So far, the evidence suggests that it can. As strategic and security issues diminish and economic and social questions take their place, policy will be made more often by the pull of advocacy and negotiation. Thus, as an extension of strict

Category: Foreign - U