ABSTRACT
During the first half of the twentieth century, hemispheric relations evolved significantly. Latin American states worked diligently—through international law, diplomacy and treaties, and international institutions—to reclaim their sovereignty, establish their juridical equality, and promote multilateralism as the core principle of inter-American relations. The United States, meanwhile, gradually shifted from exercising dominance over its immediate neighbors to simple hegemony: incrementally, it edged away from a rather routine disregard of its neighbors’ sovereignty, and in the process, U.S. “gunboat diplomacy” eventually gave way to the era of the Good Neighbor, and a welcome period of inter-state cooperation ensued.
