Kennedy Men and the Fate of the Alliance for Progress in LBJ Era Brazil and Chile

The experiences of US ambassadors to Brazil and Chile in the 1960s, Lincoln Gordon and Ralph Dungan, exemplify the contradictory nature of US commitment to reform in Latin America in that decade. Brazil and Chile were two of the three countries which received the most Alliance for Progress money; their leaders were men whom the US ambassadors strongly supported. These countries, however, were heading in diametrically opposite political directions, one toward increasingly despotic government and the other toward greater democracy. In both cases, the ambassadors could claim to be pursuing Kennedy's Alliance goals in the Johnson years even as US interest in the region waned.     

JFK's ambassadors and the cold war

The importance of sound representation abroad was plain to President J.F. Kennedy. This survey of Kennedy's diplomats is selective, confined to the three most telling cases in the Cold War drama: Moscow, New Delhi, London. The countries corresponding with these capitals shaped America's world, as chief rival, preeminent neutral and pluckiest ally. Ambassadors in distinctive posts do not constitute the whole of JFK's foreign policy, but this account do shed light on significant achievements, thereby challenging those critics who have attributed every manner of blunder to Kennedy. His diplomatic record may not have been as brilliant as court historians suggested. Yet, to JFK's credit, the practical effect of his ambassadors in three major countries was to advance US security and prestige.     

JFK's ambassadors and the cold war

The importance of sound representation abroad was plain to President J.F. Kennedy. This survey of Kennedy's diplomats is selective, confined to the three most telling cases in the Cold War drama: Moscow, New Delhi, London. The countries corresponding with these capitals shaped America's world, as chief rival, preeminent neutral and pluckiest ally. Ambassadors in distinctive posts do not constitute the whole of JFK's foreign policy, but this account do shed light on significant achievements, thereby challenging those critics who have attributed every manner of blunder to Kennedy. His diplomatic record may not have been as brilliant as court historians suggested. Yet, to JFK's credit, the practical effect of his ambassadors in three major countries was to advance US security and prestige.     

The NATO Warsaw Summit: Reflections on Unfinished Business

The deterioration of the European security environment has put NATO back at the centre of transatlantic strategy. The recent Alliance summit in Warsaw focused on some critical priorities, above all strengthening European security vis-à-vis an increasingly assertive Russia. But the summit left some other pressing matters to be addressed, including the difficult questions of strategy toward the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the south in general. Concerns about Brexit, the US elections and the challenge of trust on both sides of the Atlantic were just below the surface in Warsaw.     

“A Slight but Salutary Case of the Jitters”: The Kennedy Administration and the Alliance for Progress in Paraguay

In its Cold War struggle against communism in Latin America, the John F. Kennedy Administration faced a dilemma. How could it maintain the support of anticommunist yet authoritarian regimes whilst concurrently promoting the political liberalisation of those regimes, as Kennedy's core policy toward Latin America—the Alliance for Progress—seemingly mandated? In Paraguay, the Stroessner regime provided Kennedy officials with a clear test of its ability to craft a policy that appropriately balanced both considerations. This case study explores how bureaucratic politics decisively shaped the implementation of that policy, ultimately leading to a continuation in the broader pattern of maintaining support for authoritarian regimes that embraced US leadership in the Cold War.     

Separated by the Atlantic: The British and de Gaulle, 1958-1967

The British and French held divergent views from the late 1940s on relations with the United States and on the development of European integration. Differences between the two countries caused particular strain once General Charles de Gaulle returned to power in 1958. The clash that ensued between British and French policies towards the Atlantic Alliance and Europe during his presidency is the subject of this article. It suggests that while the British were unable to overcome de Gaulle's resistance to their membership of the EEC, Britain's fortunes in Europe were nevertheless improved by the Wilson government's response to de Gaulle's actions in the Atlantic Alliance.     

在变与不变中前行——-2011年拉美和加勒比形势回顾与展望

2011年拉美和加勒比地区形势保持相对平稳,其基本发展趋势没有改变.政治形势在稳定中有变化,选民更加务实,民生主导政治将成趋势,顺应民心的调整将成为常态,在变与不变中保持平衡成为拉美政治稳定的挑战.2012年墨西哥和委内瑞拉大选将对地区政治产生重要影响.拉美经济持续增长,宏观经济继续保持稳定,“反周期”政策作用明显.未来,拉美经济仍面临通胀和结构性调整的压力,欧债危机对拉美实体经济的影响不容忽视,世界经济低速常态化将会带来新挑战,个别国家和地区经济内在矛盾有可能激化.社会形势喜忧参半,就业和收入有所改善,极端贫困人口增加,毒品、有组织犯罪和暴力问题依然突出,部分国家印第安人自身利益与政府开发资源、发展经济的矛盾将有可能成为新的社会问题.对外关系基本格局未变,新的变化正在出现,区域合作分层化和自贸区板块化的趋势显现,地区主义出现不同选项,对外关系面临新的调整.     

美菲同盟强化及其在美国亚太再平衡战略中的作用

美菲同盟是与美国亚太再平衡战略推进最为同步的一个同盟,美国视其为该战略的"核心"。美菲同盟的强化,其主要原因在于美国亚太再平衡战略与菲律宾对南海领土图谋之间存在契合。美菲同盟在美国再平衡战略背景下迅速机制化。美菲同盟在美国再平衡战略中扮演着进入东南亚地区多边机制的介入功能,承载着重空间轻基地、少投入多产出的威慑功能,体现着由关注非传统安全向关注传统安全的调整功能。     

The Pleiades Join the Stars: Transatlanticism and Eastern Enlargement

EU enlargement and the inclusion of countries previously under communist domination led many West Europeans as well as Americans to think these countries would play the role of a ‘Trojan Horse’. These new EU members indeed have tended to approach the US with greater understanding, but these attitudes differ little from those of Western Europe after the end of World War II. East European pro-Americanism may turn out, however, to be short-lived. This paper argues that the real tension within Europe comes not from the East Europeans' attitudes toward transatlanticism or the Iraq War but rather from their dramatically different experiences under Soviet rule. Based on their empirical experience with Moscow and vital national interests in the democratisation of the EU's neighbourhood, the new members are unlikely to challenge old members over the US; when it comes to Russia, the prospects are quite different.     

The Rise of China and the Future of the Atlantic Alliance

The consequences and implications of China's rise have been analyzed and discussed from a number of perspectives. There has been little analysis that specifically evaluates the implications for the Atlantic Alliance, however, and whether an international system defined by U.S.-China bi-polarity would lead to a strengthening or a weakening of the transatlantic relationship. This article argues that China's rise will create security dynamics that likely will lead to a weakening of the Atlantic Alliance. It is unlikely that China's rise will provide NATO with a renewed purpose or give a convincing rationale for alliance cohesion the way the Soviet Union once did. Instead, China's rise will reveal divergent strategic interests and priorities among the members of the Atlantic Alliance, with a real possibility that America's rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific could intensify perceptions on both sides of the Atlantic of NATO's declining geopolitical value and relevance.     

US and India: Emerging offshore balancing in Asia

ABSTRACT

The US and India have become closer in recent times. Compared with the last century, the relationship between the two countries is in steady growth. Under both the Bush and Obama administrations, and now the Trump administration too, India is receiving significant importance in US’ strategic policy toward the Indo–Pacific. India’s emergence as a credible power in the Indian Ocean region has brought both countries much closer. The relationship has also steadily progressed as result of China’s emergence as a potential hegemon in Asia. The US faces difficulty in maintaining its preponderant position across the Indo–Pacific and requires strong allies in the region to help share the burden. In this regard, India could be the offshore balancer in Asia to counter China’s emergence as a potential hegemon in the region.     

Hearing Latin American Voices in International Relations Studies

This article offers a general account of international relations studies (IR) in Latin America through an examination of IR thinking in the region, an inventory of IR theory courses in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago), and an analysis of journal articles selected from five specialized IR journals in Latin America. Although considerable U.S. influence upon the ways in which IR is approached in Latin America is made apparent through this narrative, the specific context in which IR studies have evolved in the region has substantially altered the content of U.S. IR discourse. Therefore, the article concludes with a discussion of the possible contributions of Latin American IR to Anglo-American perspectives in the field.     

Separated by the Atlantic: The British and de Gaulle, 1958–1967

The British and French held divergent views from the late 1940s on relations with the United States and on the development of European integration. Differences between the two countries caused particular strain once General Charles de Gaulle returned to power in 1958. The clash that ensued between British and French policies towards the Atlantic Alliance and Europe during his presidency is the subject of this article. It suggests that while the British were unable to overcome de Gaulle's resistance to their membership of the EEC, Britain's fortunes in Europe were nevertheless improved by the Wilson government's response to de Gaulle's actions in the Atlantic Alliance.     

试析日英同盟成立的历史背景

日英同盟的成立在国际关系中绝非偶然,有其深刻历史背景。从日本来讲,是其资本主义政治、经济发展不平衡导致日本军国主义形成及对外扩张的必然结果。从英国来讲,则是英国面临其他资本主义国家 (法国、德国、俄国)的挑战,为维护其在东北亚的利益做出的无奈选择。     

同盟视野探析

同盟视野是指缔结同盟的国家通过同盟所要追求的以安全、军事为主的关切范围,它主要通过同盟条约中的同盟覆盖区域的形式体现.关切主要是一种基于利益之上的主观判断,覆盖区域主要是基于利益之上对地理空间范围的主观判断,因此,同盟视野既具有客观的地理性,又具有主观的判断性.同盟视野不同于同盟目标和同盟针对对象.同盟视野概念的提出有利于理解同盟这一概念,从而有利于进一步构建和丰富同盟理论.同盟视野是同盟得以存在的实质性内涵和逻辑支撑之一.同盟视野重合程度高,则同盟持续的时间长,运行更有效;反之,则同盟持续的时间短,运行效率低.同盟视野的类型分为地区性与全球性、静态性与动态性,同盟类型的不同及其转化对同盟存续意义重大.     

The Big Problem of Small Allies: New Data and Theory on Defiant Local Counterinsurgency Partners in Afghanistan and Iraq

Alliance politics are critical yet understudied in counterinsurgency interventions. Despite the importance of local allies, traditional research on alliances fails to account for the challenges of managing in-country counterinsurgency security partners or explain variation among which types of policy requests from large intervening allies are likely to result in compliance or defiance by local partners. When did US intervening forces have leverage in Iraq and Afghanistan, and when was American influence limited? Utilizing thousands of US government documents to analyze over 250 US demands of allies in Kabul and Baghdad, this paper reexamines established variables in the literature on inter-alliance bargaining—namely allied interests and dependencies—to offer a new model describing the interaction of these variables in asymmetric counterinsurgency partnerships. The theory predicts when large allies are likely to influence local partners and when these intervening forces will likely fail to coerce them.     

中国与智利关系40年回顾

2010年12月15日是中国与智利建交40周年纪念日。智利是第一个与中国建交的南美国家。中智两国关系在40年的发展中创造了中拉关系发展过程中多个第一的传奇,中智两国在政治交往、经贸关系及制度化安排等方面还代表着中拉关系发展的水平,并成为中国与拉美国家发展互鉴的典范。两国之间天然的互补性、持续的经济增长及开放进程是推动中智关系发展的主要因素,但最重要的是两国领导人的战略性推动。中智关系也存在一些中拉关系发展中普遍存在的问题,如贸易结构、贸易与投资、政治与经济、文化教育和人文交流与政治经济的不平衡。然而,这种不平衡问题不会阻碍中智关系未来的发展,反而为中智关系未来发展指明了方向。     

A Soviet Eye on France from the rue de Grenelle in Paris, 1924-1940

The present article is about Soviet perceptions of French politics and society as reported by the five Soviet ambassadors in Paris between 1924 and 1940, and about how their reports influenced Soviet policy making in Moscow. This article is based largely upon unpublished documents from the Soviet foreign policy archives in Moscow (AVPRF), specifically opened to researchers in the 1990s. It contends that these Soviet ambassadors established effective relationships with French counterparts and that they were pragmatic, non-ideological realists trying unsuccessfully to improve Soviet relations with France. The narrative is about the failure of these efforts over a period of sixteen years and ultimately about the failure of the Soviet Union and France to form anti-Nazi alliance during the 1930s.     

A western cold war: the crisis in Iceland's relations with Britain, the United States, and NATO, 1971-74

The article explores the crisis in Iceland's relations with the Western Alliance following a left-wing government's decisions, in 1971, to expand Iceland's fishery limits and to demand the withdrawal of US military forces. This sparked a cod war with Britain and a diplomatic stand-off with the United States, with NATO in the middle. It analyzes the motives behind Iceland's behaviour - especially the tension between a pro Western foreign policy course and a domestic anti Western nationalism - the Western response within the context of alliance politics and the democratic peace theory, and the role of international mediation and domestic political realignments in diffusing the crisis.     

中国与拉美国家关系中的美国因素

近年来,中国与拉美国家的关系持续快速发展引起美国特朗普政府的警惕,美国采取多重手段公开阻扰中拉合作,包括在拉美事务上频频发表反华言论、加大打击拉美左翼政权、拉拢右翼政权组建"反华阵营",并警告与中国新建交的拉美国家。特朗普政府施压手段取得了一定成效,部分拉美国家对华态度有所调整,但从长远看,基于中美关系、美拉关系及中拉关系的本质特点,未来中拉合作仍将保持良好势头。不可忽视的是,美国将继续阻扰中拉关系发展。中国应妥善应对中拉关系中的美国因素,保证中美拉三边关系良性互动。