Good Neighbor Policy

Good Neighbor Policy The term “Good Neighbor,” a diplomatic cliché, gained substance in U.S. relations with Latin America during the 1930s.Fundamentally a tactical shift motivated by a desire for access to trade and resources, the new policy abandoned older conceptions of America's international police power—specifically, military intervention in the Caribbean region—in favor of more subtle methods to win over Latin Americans.

Lacking a European threat (the traditional U.S. justification), Republican administrations in the 1920s initiated the move away from intervention. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's explicit “Good Neighbor policy,” proclaimed at Pan American conferences in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1933 and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936, complied with Latin American demands by adopting noninterventionist principles. American protectorates in Cuba, Panama, Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic were modified or dismantled. The policy yielded significant dividends as the United States responded to the Great Depression and World War II. These included fifteen reciprocal trade agreements with Latin American countries; the encouragement of “hemispheric solidarity” in opposition to Germany, Italy, and Japan; and the formulation of new “cultural initiatives” to bring U.S. perspectives to Latin American audiences.

When faced with the Axis threat, the Western Hemisphere nations tried to insulate their region against aggressive acts and later to coordinate wartime strategies. When the United States entered the conflict after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, eighteen of the Latin American republics followed its lead either by declaring war or breaking diplomatic relations with enemy states. Only Chile and Argentina remained neutral. Such unanimity avoided regional divisiveness and assured U.S. access to Latin American resources. Viewed in the context of World War II, the Good Neighbor policy proved its worth.
See also Expansionism; Foreign Relations: The Economic Dimension; Foreign Relations: The Cultural Dimension; Foreign Relations: U.S. Relations with Latin America; Foreign Trade, U.S.

Bibliography

Irwin F. Gellman , Good Neighbor Diplomacy: United States Policies in Latin America, 1933–1945, 1979.
Frederick B. Pike , FDR's Good Neighbor Policy, 1995.

Mark T. Gilderhus