Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-353) and index.

United States policy toward Central America : a retrospective of the Reagan years -- United States policy in Latin America : the Bush agenda -- "Friendly tyrants" : gauging when to change U.S. policy -- The military and democracy -- Europe's ambiguous relations with Latin America : blowing hot and cold in the Western Hemisphere -- The politics of Latin American debt -- Opportunities and obstacles to superpower conflict resolution : Soviet-American cooperation in Central America -- State-society relations in Latin America : toward a theory of the contract state -- Rethinking political development : a look backward over thirty years, and a look ahead -- Political culture and national development -- Turnaround in Nicaragua : the larger implications -- Mexico : the unraveling of a corporatist regime? -- The Dominican Republic : mirror legacies of democracy and authoritarianism -- Is Cuba next? : crises of the Castro regime -- South American domestic politics and foreign policy -- Saving Latin America from the "black hole" -- The democratic breakthrough in Latin America : challenges, prospects, and U.S. policy.

This thoughtful, controversial book, by one of the country's leading Latin America scholars, examines the fundamental tenets and ideologies behind America's policy toward Latin America over the course of the last three administrations. Howard Wiarda, who has served as a consultant to the State Department, the Department of the Army, the National Security Council, the Kissinger Commission, and the White House, is ideally situated to provide an insider account of policy decisions and process during the Reagan-Bush era. The combination of Wiarda's academic background and his hands-on knowledge of Washington practices and processes results in a volume that is extremely readable and will serve as a vital link between the scholarly and policymaking communities. Wiarda supplements his incisive analysis on the role of the military in Latin America, shifting U.S. strategic policy, democracy and human rights, and the problems presented by dictators in decline with illuminating case studies of Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, South America, and the Caribbean. The result is a book that will be of interest to both scholars and students of American foreign policy and Latin American studies, as well as policymakers and analysts.