This book traces the history of Argentine and Chilean pan-Americanism and asks why pan-Americanism came to define inter-American relations in the twentieth century.

The Southern Cone and the Origins of Pan America, 1888-1933 offers new perspectives on the origins of the inter-American system and the history of international cooperation in the Americas. Mark J. Petersen chronicles the story of pan-Americanism, a form of regionalism launched by the United States in the 1880s and long associated with U.S. imperial pretensions in the Western hemisphere. The story begins and ends in the Rio de la Plata, with Southern Cone actors and Southern Cone agendas at the fore. Incorporating multiple strands of pan-American history, Petersen draws inspiration from interdisciplinary analysis of recent regionalisms and weaves together research from archives in Argentina, Chile, the United States, and Uruguay. The result is a nuanced and comprehensive account of how Southern Cone policy makers used pan-American cooperation as a vehicle for various agendas-personal, national, regional, hemispheric, and global-transforming pan-Americanism from a tool of U.S. interests to a framework for multilateral cooperation that persists to this day. Petersen decenters the story of pan-Americanism and orients the conversation on pan-Americanism toward a more complete understanding of hemispheric cooperation. The book will appeal to students and scholars of inter-American relations, Latin American (especially Chile and Argentina) and U.S. history, Latin American studies, and international relations.

About the Author

Mark J. Petersen is associate professor of history at the University of Dallas.

Reviews

"This book is destined to be a key reference in the study of pan-Americanism. Petersen's account excels with fine-grained detail of how diplomatic exchanges, political conditions, changing civil society, and economic factors all shaped pan-Americanism." -Tom Long, author of Latin America Confronts the United States

"This thoroughly researched, confident, and well-informed international political history presents a valuable revisiting of the diplomacy between the Southern Cone (chiefly Argentina and Chile) and the United States." -Max Paul Friedman, author of Rethinking Anti-Americanism

"The Southern Cone and the Origins of Pan America, 1888-1933 represents a solid discussion of the cultural and diplomatic features of Pan-Americanism." -Hispanic American Historical Review

"Petersen's history forces us to reimagine and reposition pan-Americanism in a way that is less Washington and more Buenos Aires." -Survival: Global Politics and Strategy

Book Information
ISBN 9780268202019
Author Mark J. Petersen
Format Hardback
Page Count 344
Imprint University of Notre Dame Press
Publisher University of Notre Dame Press
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 21mm