Reagan and Pinochet
Subtitle: the struggle over U.S. policy toward Chile
By: Morris Morley, Macquarie University, Australia ; Chris McGillion, Charles Sturt University, Australia
Contributors: McGillion, Chris, 1954-
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 338
ISBN-13: 9781107087637; 9781107458093
Subjects: Foreign relations
Description: "This book is the first comprehensive study of the Reagan administration's policy toward the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Based on new primary and archival materials, as well as on original interviews with former US and Chilean officials, it traces the evolution of Reagan policy from an initial 'close embrace' of the junta to a re-evaluation of whether Pinochet was a risk to long-term US interests in Chile and, finally, to an acceptance in Washington of the need to push for a return to democracy. It provides fresh insights into the bureaucratic conflicts that were a key part of the Reagan decision-making process and reveals not only the successes but also the limits of US influence on Pinochet's regime. Finally, it contributes to the ongoing debate about the US approach toward democracy promotion in the Third World over the past half century"--

"During the first three decades of the twentieth century, the United States transformed itself from a dominant regional into a competitive global power, all the while projecting its power abroad driven less by a desire 'to make the world safe for democracy' than to put down nationalist threats to an expanding U.S. capital and commerce. Throughout the Cold War era, the gap between idealistic rhetoric and policy practice showed no signs of closing: the verbal commitment to promoting democracy by American presidents 'with few exceptions...' was distinctly secondary to the U.S. quest for private economic opportunity and public support for military-dominated regimes that would maintain order"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: In From The Cold; title: Turning The Tide; title: Dead Ends in Chile Policy; title: Changing Tack; title: Abandoning Pinochet; title: Toward Endgame; title: Return To The Fold.