US FOREIGN POLICY.

Running head: US FOREIGN POLICY
US Foreign Policy
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1US FOREIGN POLICY
1. Most Important Sources of Disagreement between Conservative and Progressive
Liberalists with regard to Latin America
American foreign policy with regard to Latin America in the period of the 19th Century
was one that focused on limiting or excluding economic and military influence of territorial
expansion by European powers, which was a negative outcome of colonialism, with the
policy also involving the encouragement of American commerce. Such objectives of US
Foreign Policy however found expression in instruments such as the Monroe Doctrine of
1833 and the famous No Transfer Principle of 1811. At this point of time American foreign
policy was largely unilateralist in its scope and outreach and it gradually became more
aggressive and interventionist at the turn of the twentieth century, at a time when unilateralist
intervention is something that was explicitly justified on the part of the American
administration, when military occupation was deemed as alright and when transformation of
the sovereign states of the world into economic and political protectorates of the USA was
encouraged for the purpose of defending US economic interests while expanding the notion
of national security at the same given time (Cox & Stokes, 2018).
There are essentially two important perspectives from which the US foreign policy to
Latin America can be understood and analyzed. The first is the progressive approach which
was seen to be in place in the period of the nineteenth century. At this point of time, the USA
was not an aggressively imperialist country the way it is today. The progressive approach in
terms of US foreign policy towards Latin America, was seen in the perception that the US
had of Latin America as countries that could be used for the growth and expansion of
American commerce, where military presence needed to be curtailed in order to encourage
the growth and development of democratic systems and where the presence of European
powers had to be combated to serve America economic interests (Lowenthal, 2018). The
conservative approach when it comes to US foreign policy with regard to Latin America is

2US FOREIGN POLICY
one that is hugely interventionist in character. According to the conservative approach Latin
American nations are to be kept under close scrutiny as these are the hotbeds of communism,
and that interventions need to be carried out in Latin American political affairs as and when
necessary in order to thwart possible communist agendas and designs to combat American
imperialism and American hegemony, resulting in huge differences surfacing in both of these
approaches to Latin America under the purview of US foreign policy (Nau, 2018).
2. Factors that influence US Foreign Policy towards Latin America
There are a number of factors that influence US Foreign Policy towards Latin America.
To begin with, America was always interested in Latin American countries for the
development and pursuit of American economic interests. Capitalism and globalization are
therefore keywords in the US foreign policy towards Latin America traditionally and now. It
is imperative for the US that the region in which the country is located is a region that is
characterized by prosperity and development (Pastor, 2018). Latin America is a region that
promises incredible economic growth and can certainly boost US efforts in the area of trade
and commerce. The success of free trade agreements like the North American Free Trade
Agreement is something that depends a lot on a cordial foreign policy with Latin American
countries. The number of free trade partners that the USA has, in the region of Latin America
are far more than the trade partners that it has in any other part of the world. The Latin
American countries are also rising in global prominence with every passing day. Countries
like Brazil and Columbia are seen to be increasingly valuable for the USA when it comes to
supporting the on ground efforts and activities of the UN. Also the fact that global powers see
the region of Latin America as one that is on the rise as far as international trade and
commerce is concerned, is what makes the region of such vital importance for the USA
(Raymont, 2018). US Foreign Policy has to be geared towards establishing positive and
constructive relationships with Latin American countries if it is to benefit from the free trade