Review of Tom Long. Latin America Confronts the United States. Asymmetry and Influence. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781107121249

JUAN PABLO SCARFI

H-Diplo / ISSF Rountable

H-Diplo / ISSF

Lugar: New York; Año: 2018 vol. 10 p. 17 - 21

1157-4488

U.S.-Latin American relations have long been an interdisciplinary field in which International Relations (IR) scholars, political scientists, and historians have contributed differently to the existing scholarship. Although it is often assumed that this field has a certain autonomy as such, some of the most important controversies in U.S.-Latin American relations have emerged from these distinctive disciplinary approaches.1 It seems hard to make a case for a contribution to the field that engages with such a diverse and broad body of scholarship altogether. Tom Long?s Latin America Confronts the United States is a timely and remarkable contribution in that it offers a good and encompassed synthesis of the many limitations of the existing literature, emphasizing the importance of exploring and uncovering Latin American agency in U.S.-Latin American relations. Long is perfectly aware that this is a complex interdisciplinary field, and thus addresses this question unambiguously to the extent that the book speaks to this diverse set of sub- disciplines. As such, it is destined to have an important influence among IR scholars primarily, but also among diplomatic and international historians and political and social scientists alike.