Theodore Roosevelt's 1904 corollary claiming "international police power" was often a reaction to "chronic wrongdoing" in Latin America. Ironically, this instability was frequently instigated by the predatory actions of U.S. banks, corporations, and mercenaries, forcing the U.S. government to intervene and settle problems that private American interests had created.
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The American conservation movement was ironically pioneered by sport hunters to preserve wildlife for their own recreational use. Organizations like the Boone & Crockett Club, co-founded by Roosevelt, were created to outlaw the practices of the very market hunters (like Boone and Crockett) they were named after.
The U.S. has a historical pattern of turning its focus back to the Western Hemisphere after periods of global overreach or crisis, such as after the Great Depression, Vietnam, and the War on Terror. This retreat is a way to reassert power in its immediate sphere of influence when its global ambitions falter.
Latin America's strong legal commitment to national sovereignty and non-intervention was not an abstract ideal developed in a vacuum. It was a pragmatic and principled response, forged over centuries of living next to the United States as it expanded, conquered territory, and asserted its dominance across the hemisphere.
In 1933, FDR's "Good Neighbor Policy" reversed the interventionist stance of the Monroe Doctrine. By recognizing Latin American sovereignty, he built crucial goodwill and continental unity against rising fascism. This diplomatic move ultimately strengthened U.S. power by making it more efficient and securing regional allies for WWII.
The original Monroe Doctrine was a defensive policy born from a position of weakness relative to European powers. Reframing it today as a core U.S. foreign policy pillar represents a significant scaling down of American global ambition, not a return to greatness.
US agencies and NATO fund a network of NGOs that act as a cohesive "swarm." This swarm delivers threats of political instability or economic ruin to foreign leaders, effectively coercing them to align with US interests without direct government intervention.
Despite the public focus on oil, the primary goal of removing Maduro was likely to demonstrate U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere. The action serves as a strong signal that the U.S. is willing to act aggressively to enforce its influence in the region.
Modern multinationals avoid the high cost and risk of securing foreign markets themselves. Instead, they 'draft' behind the U.S. government, which uses its diplomatic and military power to create favorable conditions. This effectively socializes geopolitical risk for corporations while they privatize the profits.
The Western Hemisphere was the initial testing ground where the United States first learned to project its financial, cultural, and military power beyond its own borders. This experience in Latin America was central to the U.S. developing its identity and capabilities as an overseas power.
In the late 1890s, political leaders like Theodore Roosevelt feared that decades of relative peace were making American men weak and "effete." They actively sought a conflict, viewing the Spanish-American War as a necessary remedy to restore national vigor and martial virtues.
