Reagan and Pinochet
The Struggle over US Policy toward Chile

This study examines US policy toward the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile during the 1980s.

Morris Morley (Author), Chris McGillion (Author)

9781107087637, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 February 2015

352 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.6 kg

'The book is not only a valuable addition to the literature on US-Latin American relations but it also augments our understanding of the foreign policy-making process in the United States by providing a detailed description of conflicts within the State Department; among the State Department, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council; and between the bureaucracies and Congress. The authors highlight the messiness of the foreign policy process and show that policies are determined by those who win the foreign policy battles.' Silvia Borzutzky, The Journal of American History

This book is the first comprehensive study of the Reagan administration's policy toward the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Based on new primary and archival materials, as well as on original interviews with former US and Chilean officials, it traces the evolution of Reagan policy from an initial 'close embrace' of the junta to a re-evaluation of whether Pinochet was a risk to long-term US interests in Chile and, finally, to an acceptance in Washington of the need to push for a return to democracy. It provides fresh insights into the bureaucratic conflicts that were a key part of the Reagan decision-making process and reveals not only the successes but also the limits of US influence on Pinochet's regime. Finally, it contributes to the ongoing debate about the US approach toward democracy promotion in the Third World over the past half century.

Introduction
1. In from the cold
2. Turning the tide
3. Dead ends in Chilean policy
4. Changing tack
5. Abandoning Pinochet
6. Toward endgame
7. Return to the fold
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Diplomacy [JPSD], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History of the Americas [HBJK]