Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on international relations rather than internal histories of the various nations. It presents US policies in the Pacific Basin. This is partly because of the pervasive impact of the US on the region and the English language sources used. The book is based principally on published works. It provides the reader with the most up-to-date interpretations, to indicate major differences of opinion among historians and to provide an interpretation that should not be regarded as the only explanation of events. The book explores ways in which the US combated imagined and real threats of communism in Latin America and the relationships of the struggles to the maintenance of US hegemonic control in terms of the Pacific rim nations of the Western hemisphere.