Realism
teaches us that politics is all about power. Krasner takes realism and applies
it to international relations and the concept of sovereignty as he explores
this notion of intervention. Krasner supposes, strong states do what they have
to do and weak states accept what they have to accept. The class topic of
intervention focused primarily on humanitarian intervention and how that
conflicts with sovereignty by proposing the various outcomes and consequences
associated with invading a country without international or internal state
approval. What my paper wishes to explore are other aspects of intervention
that violate sovereignty, such as influencing a foreign country’s political
structure through military and financial support of coup d’etat.
By
examining the US actions in Latin America during the cold war, one learns that
the US compromised the notion of sovereignty to crush communism in their
“backyard” by meddling in the affairs of weaker states. As a result, the US
support of militant right-wing groups in Latin America aided in establishing a
reign of terror in country’s like Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay through
‘Operation Condor,’ in which countless of human rights violations were
committed. Despite the bloodshed, US actions were done in the name of defending
and empowering the notion of democracy.
1. McSherry, J. Patrice. "AMERICAS: Condor
Figures." NACLA Report On The Americas
39.1 (2005): 42-44. Political Science Complete. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
* This source goes through some of the key players in the
Condor Operation
2. Young, Kevin. "Washing U.S. Hands Of The Dirty Wars:
News Coverage Erases Washington's
Role In State Terror." NACLA Report On The Americas 46.2 (2013):
58-61. Political Science Complete. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
* I want to use this source because it tries to expose how
the US was involved in Latin America’s ‘dirty wars’ (referring to all the coups
that took place).
3. McSherry, J. Patrice. "Cross-Border Terrorism:
Operation Condor." NACLA Report On
The Americas 32.6 (1999): 34. Political Science Complete. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
*This is another source about Operation Condor, but focuses
more on the regional structure of the South American countries involved with an
emphasis on Argentina
4. Kornbluch, Peter. "Opening Up The Files: Chile
Declassified." NACLA Report On The
Americas 37.1 (2003): 25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
* This source looks at the US support of the Pinochet
rebellion in Chile and attempts to surface information about the CIA that was until
then kept quiet for some time.
5. MeSherry, J. Patrice. "Death Squads As Parallel
Forces: Uruguay, Operation Condor, And
The United States." Journal Of Third World Studies 24.1 (2007): 13-52. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
*This source reviews the clandestine operations in Uruguay
and the US funding of militant groups.
This topic is very interesting, especially because you chose to examine the possible breach of sovereignty by the United States in Latin America. The sources are very good and by choosing this perspective, it does show that intervention is mostly based on the interest of the nation intervening. I believe you have made a clear argument in the proposal and that this is a very good topic.
ReplyDeleteI like your topic, because you are trying to look at aspects of intervention where sovereignty is violated; it demonstrated that violation of sovereignty and intervention can be beneficial for a nation at times. I think your argument is well established.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair I think realism is a little bit more than politics being all about power. Other than that, while I do find the topic interesting, it does seem to be laced with biased language. Don't get me wrong, while I understand some crazy stuff happened down in Latin America during the Dirty War, there are ways to project such "atrocities" and a viewpoint of violating state sovereignty without biased rhetoric. After all who can forget Argentina's infamous secrete detention centers where they basically just abducted people they claimed to be dissidents of the state.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, nice choice. Peace.