ABSTRACT
The Cold War brought unprecedented challenges to American hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, but not from the Soviet Union directly. Instead, they emanated from regional powers themselves, and from the political dynamics that engulfed them. The nature of these challenges varied. But whether unilateral, multilateral, or the product of domestic instability and revolutionary fervor, they formed part of the broad Cold War context. This chapter examines both the challenges to American hegemony and the U.S. response to them. Because the idea that weaker states could challenge a hegemon effectively seems counterintuitive, it’s useful to dispel a common misperception about hegemony and U.S.–Latin American relations—namely, that America’s power advantage so restricted its neighbors’ agency that it left the United States virtually unlimited influence over their external and internal affairs. The United States did wield great influence, and in some instances, did restrict other states’ agency. But hegemons do not always get their way in international politics; the belief that they do can be as misleading as the notion that hegemons routinely dominate weaker states through belligerent actions. The simplest way to avoid confusion on these matters is to revisit a point discussed briefly in Chapter 4, and clarify the difference between hegemony and other types of great power influence.
