Containing Latin America: From the Long Cold War to the Global Cold War in the Americas, 1910-1991

Containing Latin America provides a fresh interpretive history of the making and remaking of Latin America and the United States from the Long Cold War to the Global Cold War (1910–1991), exploring how geopolitics created enduring patterns in inter-American relations.Berger argues that while each Latin American nation-state followed diverse historical trajectories—contrasting Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina—these differences unfolded within broader Cold War frameworks that shaped the entire hemisphere. Central to this analysis is an examination of how the state was understood during this period as a contested historical institution that provided the major arena for national and international politics, consistently determining which ideological, social, and cultural groups gained political access. The volume discusses pivotal moments including the Guatemalan Revolution, the Alliance for Progress, and the Cuban Revolution, and a compelling epilogue takes readers to the present day, examining the continued tension between visions of a common hemispheric future in a globalized world on the one hand and actual inter-American power relations on the other.This concise yet informative history provides an invaluable resource for students, scholars, and general readers interested in Latin American history, global history, international relations, and development studies.

About the Author

Mark T. Berger taught history for 40 years at the University of New South Wales (Sydney) and the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, California), as well as the University of British Columbia (Vancouver and Okanagan), the University of the South Pacific (Suva), and Murdoch University (Perth). He is widely published with over 70 articles on history and international relations. He is also the author of Under Northern Eyes: Latin American Studies and US Hegemony in the Americas, 1898–1990 (1995) and The Battle for Asia: From Decolonization to Globalization (2004). He is also a co-author with Heloise Weber of Rethinking the Third World: International Development and World Politics (2014).