Argentina and the United States - (United States and the Americas) by David M K Sheinin (Paperback)

About the Book

Sheinin draws on both Spanish- and English-language sources to provide a broad perspective on the two centuries of shared U.S.-Argentine history with fresh focus in particular on cultural ties, nuclear politics in the cold war era, the politics of human rights, and Argentina's exit in 1991 from the nonaligned movement.

Book Synopsis

In the first English-language survey of Argentine-U.S. relations to appear in more than a decade, David M. K. Sheinin challenges the accepted view that confrontation has been the characteristic state of affairs between the two countries. Sheinin draws on both Spanish- and English-language sources in the United States, Argentina, Canada, and Great Britain to provide a broad perspective on the two centuries of shared U.S.-Argentine history with fresh focus in particular on cultural ties, nuclear politics in the cold war era, the politics of human rights, and Argentina's exit in 1991 from the nonaligned movement.

From the perspectives of both countries, Sheinin discusses such topics as Pan-Americanism, petroleum, communism and fascism, and foreign debt. Although the general trajectory of the two countries' relationship has been one of cooperative interaction based on generally strong and improving commercial and financial ties, shared strategic interests, and vital cultural contacts, Sheinin also emphasizes episodes of strained ties. These include the Cuban Revolution, the Dirty War of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the Falklands/Malvinas War. In his epilogue, Sheinin examines Argentina's monetary crash of December 2001, when the United States-in a major policy shift-refused to come to Argentina's rescue.

Review Quotes

Sheinin's study is particularly strong on the cultural interchange between Argentina and the United States. He draws from his earlier research to provide interesting and detailed coverage of the juxtapositioning of the two countries within the Pan-American movement and of the intricate negotiations surrounding the Argentine nuclear program in the 1970s and 1980s. This thoughtful overview fills a significant remaining gap in the United States and the Americas series.

--Ken Lehman "Hampden-Sydney College"

This volume provides a superb examination of Argentine-U.S. relations between the early nineteenth and the early twenty-first century. Throughout this history, U.S. policy toward Argentina was often 'contained' within a zone of suspicion. The book shows how each country misunderstood each other's foreign policy, a case in point being the Falkland/Malvinas War in 1982, and how Argentina was the focus of a major U.S. policy shift when the US chose not to provide aid during the economic crisis of December 2001.

--Dr. Kristin Ruggiero "Professor of History and Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin"

A masterful, insightful survey of two centuries of diplomatic, economic, and cultural interaction. . . . With his command of even the most recent secondary literature and exceptional archival research on three continents, he has produced a valuable synthesis of newer cultural trends with traditional diplomatic history. . . . There are a few scholars in every generation who possess the range, expertise, and perspective to produce a truly first-rate survey, and Sheinin clearly falls within this elite group. This volume offers the most balanced and comprehensive analysis of U.S.-Argentine relations to date, a clear step in the ongoing evolution of diplomatic history, and a convincing synthetic framework that future scholars should be able to revise only with great difficulty.

--Hispanic American Historical Review

In his original and highly refreshing book, Sheinin succinctly and convincingly demonstrates that, contrary to the conventional interpretation, discord between these two countries is really the exception to what has been a surprisingly stable and cooperative bilateral relationship for the past two centuries. . . . A balanced and thoroughly researched narrative.

--American Historical Review

About the Author

David M. K. Sheinin is a professor of history at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and a corresponding academic of the Argentine National Academy of History. His books include "Searching for Authority" as well as four other studies of Argentina, Pan-Americanism, and the Jewish diaspora in Latin America.