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George W. Bush, Barack H.
Obama, and the Decline of United States Hegemony in the Western Hemisphere
By
Thomas Andrew O’Keefe
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication
List of Graphs
Acknowledgments
Chapter One: What is Hegemony
and When Has the United States of America Been a
Hegemon?
I.
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………
II.
The Theoretical Underpinnings of Hegemony…………………………………………...
Text
Box: Variegated Hierarchy…………………………………………………
III.
The United States of America as a “Global”
Hegemon………………………………….
IV.
The United States of America as a Regional
Hegemon………………………………….
Chapter Two: The Inter-American System Under the Aegis of United
States Hegemony
I.
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………
II.
The Pan American Union……………………………………………………………………………………..
III.
The Organization of American States
(OAS)……………….……………………………………………………………………
Text
Box: Human Rights in the Inter-American System…….…….…………...
IV.
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….
Chapter
Three: A Post Hegemonic Inter-American System
I.
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….
II.
The Diminishing Influence of the United States
of America in the OAS……………...
Text Box: The War on Drugs…...………………………………………………..
III.
The Appearance of Potential Rival Institutions
to the OAS……………………………
a. The
Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)……………………………….
b. The
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)...……………
IV.
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...
Chapter
Four: The Emergence and Collapse of the Free Trade Area of the Americas
I.
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….
II.
Preparing the Stage for the Negotiations………………………………………………
III.
The Growing Rift between U.S. and Brazilian
Objectives…………………………….
IV.
The Negotiations Become Hopelessly Deadlocked…………………………………....
V.
The Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of
Our America and the Peoples’ Trade Treaty…………………………………………………………………………………..
VI.
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..
Chapter
Five: The Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas
I.
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………
II.
Launching the Energy and Climate Partnership of
the Americas (ECPA)....………….
III.
ECPA Initiatives………………………………………………………………………..
IV.
A Missed Opportunity to Establish a Hemispheric
Cap and Trade Program…………..
V.
The Caribbean Energy Security Initiative………………………………………………
VI.
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...
Chapter
Six: China in Latin America and the Caribbean
I.
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….
II.
China’s Growing Commercial Presence in Latin America
and the Caribbean………...
III.
The Chinese Challenge to U.S. Hegemony in Latin
America and the Caribbean……..
IV.
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...
Chapter Seven: The
Record on Other Major U.S. Foreign Policy Initiatives for the Western
Hemisphere under George W. Bush and Barack
H. Obama
I.
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..
II.
Plan Colombia…………………………………………………………………………..
III.
The Merida Initiative…………………………………………………………………...
IV.
Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas………………………………………………..
V.
The Central American Regional Security Initiative
(CARSI)………………………….
VI.
The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative
(CBSI)…….…………………………………
VII.
100,000 Strong in the Americas………………………………………………………..
VIII. Restoring
Normal Diplomatic Relations with Cuba……………………………………
IX.
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...
Chapter
Eight: The Current State of Affairs and Future Ramifications
Bibliography
Index
LIST OF GRAPHS
a. Andean
Community Exports and Imports……………………………………………...
b. Central
America Exports and Imports………………………………………………….
c. MERCOSUR
Exports and Imports……………………………………………………..
d. Mexico
Exports and Imports……………………………………………………………
e. Lending
to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2016…………………………………
A Introdução:
I. Introduction
The genesis for this book is the flurry of
discussions in the media and academic circles on the purported decline of
United States hegemony in the Western Hemisphere that coincided with the start
of the twenty-first century. These
assertions blossomed following the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the
United States, as the administration of George W. Bush concentrated its
attention on eliminating Al Qaeda and other extremist Islamist cells in
Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Somalia. There
was a widespread sentiment that because of this new focus, the United States
was “ignoring” Latin America and the Caribbean. This period also coincided with the
election of leftist governments in many Latin American countries that
frequently adopted policy positions that were blatantly hostile to the agenda long
promoted by Washington, DC. Unlike
what might have been the response in the past, the United States now seemed to
acquiesce to the new status
quo in the Americas. This book tests the thesis of whether
there has indeed been a decline in the hegemony traditionally exercised by the
United States in the Western Hemisphere since at least the end of the 19th century.
At the outset, it is important to
underscore that this book is about hegemony and not about power per se. Although the United States emerged as
the sole superpower after the end of the Cold War, with cumulative, economic,
military, and other capabilities, preponderant capabilities across the board do
not guarantee effective influence in any given arena.[i] For one things, American
dominance in the international security arena no longer translates into
effective leverage in the international economic arena, as the United States
faces rising economic challengers with their own agendas and with greater
discretion in international economic policy.[ii] Accordingly, this book focuses
on those international relations theories where the concept of hegemony is a
key component for explaining United States foreign policy and actions. It also addresses the conception of
hegemony as developed by the Italian sociologist and neo-Marxist Antonio
Gramsci. Furthermore, this
book does not attempt to wade into the lively debate within the international
relations field over which conception of hegemony is more valid or to propose
yet another theory of international relations for that matter. Instead, its goal is less
ambitious. It utilizes
existing definitions and notions of hegemony to answer whether its exercise by
the United States in Latin America and the Caribbean objectively declined under
the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama.
It is also important to emphasize the
distinction between imperialism and hegemony. The fact that both terms are, often,
used interchangeably to describe United States behavior in the Western
Hemisphere leads to much confusion, even in academic circles. Although the precise definition of
imperialism may be as contested as one for hegemony, imperialism reflects a
geopolitical arrangement whereby one state extends its dominion---frequently
through use of force---over populations beyond its borders that are culturally
and ethnically distinct from its own.[iii] While an imperial power attempts to
control both the internal and external affairs of a client state, a hegemon
respects a subaltern’s domestic sovereignty but impinges on its autonomy to
conduct an independent foreign policy.[iv] Without a doubt, the forcible
annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1898 against the clear wishes of its
monarch and the overwhelming majority of its indigenous population provides an
egregious example of U.S. imperialism. Similarly,
a case can be made for the U.S. annexation of Puerto Rico and the Philippines
where, following the defeat of Spanish forces in 1898, the U.S. refused to
recognize, and in the Filipino case, ruthlessly crushed a vibrant independence
movement. On the other
hand, labeling as imperialistic the U.S. invasions and subsequent occupations
of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua in the earlier part of the 20th century is debatable given that there
was never an expressed intention by U.S. government officials to hold on to
these countries indefinitely. In
fact, the delays in quickly restoring sovereignty was often because U.S.
efforts to implement “reforms” and make a hasty exit was complicated by the
fierce, armed resistance that arose to American occupation.
This work utilizes four case studies to
test whether there has indeed been a decline in United States hegemony in the
Western Hemisphere since the January 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush. These include the inter-American
system centered on the Organization of America States, the Free Trade Area of
the Americas, the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, and the
expanding role of China as a major trade and investment rival to the United
States in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, the book also examines
other illustrative foreign policy initiatives under Bush and Obama to support
or debunk the notion that there has been a decline in U.S. hegemony. In particular, the book
examines: (1) Plan
Colombia; (2) the Merida Initiative; (3) the Central American Regional Security
Initiative (including the subsequent Alliance for Prosperity of the Northern
Triangle of Central America); (4) the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative; (5)
Pathways to Prosperity; (6) 100,000
Strong in the Americas; and, (7) the re-establishment of normal U.S.
diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Mais um pouco:
ACKNOWLEDMENTS
I deeply appreciate the
encouragement that my colleagues and friends Annette Hester, Robin King,
Barbara Kotschwar, and Carol Wise have extended to me over the years in our
mutual quest to create a more economically integrated Western Hemisphere rooted
in equity, as well as the intellectual support of decades from Cathy Schneider
in deepening my understanding of Latin American politics. I am indebted to Jane Kamide as well, whose
retirement offered me the opportunity to get an inside view of how U.S. foreign
policy is formulated and implemented while serving as Chair of the Western
Hemisphere Area Studies program at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service
Institute between 2011 and 2016. I am
also grateful to Stanford University and the trust it has put in me since 2007
to educate its students, and the access it has provided me to its rich archival
and book collections as well data banks and electronic resources that
facilitated writing this book. I
especially want to thank the following Stanford University faculty and staff: Rodolfo Dirzo, Herbert Klein, Ivan Jaksic, Adrienne
Jamieson, Julie Kennedy, Lynn Orr, Ken Schultz, Stephen Stedman, Megan Gorman,
and Elizabeth Sáenz-Ackermann. Finally,
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the anonymous reviewer at the Middle
Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies (MACLAS) journal, Latin American Essays, who faulted an
article I had submitted for publication some years ago for not including a
discussion of the different theories of hegemony. Although this omission did not prevent the
article from being published, it did serve as the catalyst for me to eventually
write this book to remedy that oversight.
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Paulo Roberto de Almeida
