The second edition of this widely used textbook updates the analysis from the first (1986) edition by covering the later Reagan and early Bush administrations. Among other recent events, it discusses the Iran-contra affair, the U. S. invasion of Panama, and the 1990 Nicaraguan election.
Although Molineau provides much historical information, he continues the approach of the first edition by presenting this material thematically rather than chronologically. Each chapter outlines and illustrates with historical cases a major perspective that has informed scholarly analyses or U. S. actions. The result is a textbook that, instead of overwhelming students with historical detail, aids their thinking about how U. S. policy toward Latin America has been and can be understood, justified, and criticized.
Molineau organizes these major perspectives into region-specific categories— Western Hemispheric unity, U. S. sphere of influence, U. S. regional economic influence—and global categories—U. S. democratic and human rights mission, U. S. strategic interests, and dependency. He then adds his own noninterventionist critique, which recognizes the negative consequences (for the U. S.) of U. S. intervention while accepting the inescapability of U. S. influence. He offers this as a “positive, realistic” approach, capable of producing the “subtle, pragmatic responses necessary to protect U. S. interests in the region” (p. 255).
Like textbook writers generally, Molineau strives to keep his axe away from the grinding wheel. Still, metal touches stone, and the resultant sparks illuminate how Molineau allows “positive realism” to limit analysis. For example, he attempts a balanced appraisal of the dependency perspective. But he devotes his shortest chapter to it, and ultimately suggests its irrelevance because U. S. policymakers are unlikely to approach Latin America “as though the dependency relationship actually existed and ought to be corrected” (p. 131).