Gunboat Democracy: U.S. Interventions in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Panama

by Russell Crandall

Overview

In this balanced and thought-provoking study, Russell Crandall examines the American decision to intervene militarily in three key episodes in American foreign policy: the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Panama. Drawing upon previously classified intelligence sources and interviews with policymakers, Crandall analyzes the complex deliberations and motives behind each intervention and shows how the decision to intervene was driven by a perceived threat to American national security. By bringing together three important cases, Gunboat Democracy makes it possible to interpret and compare these examples and study the political systems left in the wake of intervention. Particularly salient in today's foreign policy arena, this work holds important lessons for questions of regime change and democracy by force.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461637158
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/30/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Russell Crandall is associate professor of political science at Davidson College. He is the author of Driven by Drugs: U.S Policy Toward Colombia and co-editor of Mexico's Democracy at Work: Political and Economic Dynamics and The Andes in Focus: Security, Democracy, and Economic Reform.

Table of Contents

1 Acknowledgements
2 Introduction
3 History of United States Intervention in Latin America
4 Dominican Republic, 1965
5 Grenada, 1983
6 Panama, 1989
7 Conclusion
8 Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

In this important and well-reasoned study, a former Bush administration official audaciously takes on the academic orthodoxy to defend three U.S. military interventions in the Caribbean basin. Crandall holds no brief for some previous U.S. meddling -- he does not wish to defend the U.S. role in Guatemala in 1954 or in Chile in 1973 -- but in the three cases under review, he finds that senior U.S. policymakers, using the available intelligence and their understanding of the U.S. geopolitical interests of the day, acted honorably and effectively. Furthermore, and contrary to the view that freedom can never be imposed by force, the three target nations are all now functioning democracies. Skeptics will question whether Crandall is too quick to accept the judgments of the intelligence services and to honor the geopolitical acumen of past policymakers. He also underplays the political attraction for U.S. presidents of low-cost muscle flexing in small nearby countries. And in his focus on imminent threats and the risks of inaction, Crandall may be seeing events through the lens of contemporary political debates. Nevertheless, "Gunboat Democracy "is a significant contribution and a compelling revisionist counterweight to the prevailing literature.

Foreign Affairs

In this important and well-reasoned study, a former Bush administration official audaciously takes on the academic orthodoxy to defend three U.S. military interventions in the Caribbean basin.. .. Gunboat Democracy is a significant contribution and a compelling revisionist counterweight to the prevailing literature.

Foreign Affairs - Richard E. Feinberg

Russell Crandall has produced a well-written and provocative book that contributes to a critical topic: why U.S. presidents choose to invade. In an era of pre-emptive warfare, it is particularly timely.

Gregory B. Weeks

Gunboat Democracy offers a much-needed corrective to the dominant view that U.S. foreign policy toward the Caribbean and Central America has been driven by nefarious motives, that U.S. imperialism has changed little since the 19th century, and that U.S. interventions have left these countries worse off. Russell Crandall demonstrates with these three cases that U.S. foreign policy has been largely based on security concerns, that it has evolved during the last century, and that its interventions have probably helped to promote democracy and stability. Provocative and insightful, the book's cases are first rate.

Robert S. Snyder

Gunboat Democracy offers a much-needed corrective to the dominant view that U.S. foreign policy toward the Caribbean and Central America has been driven by nefarious motives, that U.S. imperialism has changed little since the 19th century, and that U.S. interventions have left these countries worse off. Russell Crandall demonstrates with these three cases that U.S. foreign policy has been largely based on security concerns, that it has evolved during the last century, and that its interventions have probably helped to promote democracy and stability. Provocative and insightful, the book's cases are first rate.--Robert S. Snyder, Southwestern University

Russell Crandall has produced a well-written and provocative book that contributes to a critical topic: why U.S. presidents choose to invade. In an era of pre-emptive warfare, it is particularly timely.--Gregory B. Weeks, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, author of The Military and Politics in Postauthoritarian Chile

In this important and well-reasoned study, a former Bush administration official audaciously takes on the academic orthodoxy to defend three U.S. military interventions in the Caribbean basin. . . . Gunboat Democracy is a significant contribution and a compelling revisionist counterweight to the prevailing literature.--Richard E. Feinberg, University of California, San Diego "Foreign Affairs "

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