Britain and the Growth of US Hegemony in Twentieth-Century Latin America by Mills, Thomas C.; Miller, Rory M.;

“The editors have assembled an outstanding group of scholars in this very welcome addition to our understanding of Latin American external relations and British foreign policy towards the region in the 20th century.”

— Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Honorary Professor, Institute of the Americas, University College London & Former Director, Chatham House

“This is an important and timely book, reappraising the UK’s role in Latin America in the 20th century. What emerges is far more interesting than the usual narrative of linear UK decline in the face of growing US predominance.”

— Peter Collecott, CMG, UK Ambassador to Brazil, 2004–2008

This book explores the role of Great Britain in twentieth-century Latin America, a period dominated by the growing political and economic influence of the United States. Focusing on three broad themes—war and conflict; commercial and business rivalries; and responses to economic nationalism, revolution, and political change—the individual chapters cover a number of countries and issues from 1914 to 1970, stressing the reluctance with which Britain ceded hegemony in the region. An epilogue focuses on Anglo-American relations and concerns in Latin America in the more recent past. The chapters, all written by leading scholars on their particular subjects, are based on original research in a wide variety of archives, going beyond the standard Foreign Office and State Department sources to which most earlier scholars were confined.

1. Introduction- Thomas C. Mills and Rory M. Miller.- Part I: War and Conflict.- 2. Rival, Ally, Or Subordinate? Anglo-American Relations in Latin America During the First World War- Phillip Dehne.- 3. British Policy Towards Latin America During World War II: Resisting The (Pan-) American Century- Thomas C. Mills.- 4. Anglo-American Relations and Venezuelan Oil, 1939-1945- Mark Seddon.- Part II: Trade And Commerce.- 5. The D’abernon Trade Mission to South America, 1929: Context and Reappraisal- Gaynor Johnson.- 6. The Roca-Runciman Treaty of 1933: Defending Which British Interests?- David Rock.- 7. Economic Nationalism and British Investments in Post-War Latin America, 1945-1970- Rory M. Miller.- 8. International Cooperation During the Cold War: British Interest in Chile's Early Nuclear History, 1955-1970- James Lockhart.- Part III: Revolution and Political Change.- 9. The Failed Search for an Entente Cordiale: The Epilogue ofthe Anglo-Brazilian Relationship in the mid-1940s- Alexandre Moreli.- 10. The Limits of Anglo-American Cooperation in Cuba, 1945-1959- Christopher Hull.- 11. Britain, The United States, and the Bolivian National Revolution, 1952-1956- Olivia Saunders.- 12. Was Cheddi Jagan a Latin American? Competing Anglo-American Perceptions of British Guiana- Stephen G. Rabe.- 13. Epilogue: The United States and Britain in Latin America After the Cold War- James Dunkerley.