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Article: The Last Years of the Monroe Doctrine: 1945-1993.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 24, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE LAST YEARS OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 1945-1993. By Gaddis Smith. Hill & Wang; 280 pages; $25
IN 1823 the United States, a poor, powerless but bold young country, told the world in effect that the western hemisphere was its sphere of influence and that it would tolerate no new colonies there, or transfers of old ones. President James Monroe's "doctrine" has ever since been treated as a sacred text. Gaddis Smith, a professor at Yale University, thinks it is time to tear it up.
One bit of the doctrine has long since been superseded: "In the wars of the foreign powers in matters relating to themselves," said Monroe, "we have never taken part, nor does it comport ...