ABSTRACT
US security interests have been dominated by a concern to maintain a strategic balance of power between the United States and the Soviet Union. In this strategic context, Latin America has historically had only a marginal role, in part because the countries in the region had little power and because the region itself has been relatively isolated from the world’s political and military conflicts. Although Latin America has played only a minor role in US strategic planning to date, this country does have clear security interests in the hemisphere--interests that are often overlooked in assessing the region’s importance. The Caribbean basin represents the southern flank of the United States--its strategic rear--and it has traditionally been defined as the region of highest US security concern in the hemisphere. The United States’ principal interest in the area is to maintain its unchallenged and unconstrained freedom of movement through the region.
