ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the visible divorce of the evolution of the international relations discipline in general from the evolution of inter-American studies created an absence of theoretical models that described, explained, and predicted possible tendencies in relations between the United States and Latin America. It also examines that the markedly state-centered character of the majority of the works within the tradition was translated into a nonconsideration of important transnational and global actors such as multinational corporations and labor, political, and religious movements. The focus excluded analyses of the relations of hemispheric members with other actors situated outside this narrow regional ambit and of the impact that these relations have had on the hemispheric system. Two factors seem to have exercised decisive influence on the evolution of inter-American studies during that epoch: the general level of development of the social sciences and the demands and repercussions of North American policy in the region.
