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The Obama Administration and Latin America: Towards a New Partnership?

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Inter-American Cooperation at a Crossroads

Part of the book series: International Political Economy Series ((IPES))

Abstract

The election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th president of the United States was widely hailed at home and abroad as a pivotal and potentially epoch-making event. In a remarkably short time, Obama moved from a rising star of the Democratic Party to a formidable presidential candidate to become the first black president of the US. The world celebrated Obama’s election as an example of the American possibility of renewal and a welcome shift from the perception of strident unilateralism that had dogged President George W. Bush – even after his policies took a more moderate and multilateral turn during his second term in office. Virtually every major world region expected its relations with the US to be substantially altered (and mostly improved) by a new American president with a decidedly more cooperative and multilateral approach to foreign policy.

Daniel P. Erikson wrote this chapter in his capacity as senior associate for US policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, prior to his appointment to the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Therefore, this chapter is based on his independent analysis and does not necessarily reflect the views of the US government.

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Authors
  1. Daniel P. Erikson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and School of Advanced International Studies, Université Laval, Canada

    Gordon Mace (Professor and Director of the Inter-American Studies Centre) (Professor and Director of the Inter-American Studies Centre)

  2. The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Canada

    Andrew F. Cooper (Distinguished Fellow and Professor) & Timothy M. Shaw (Professor and Director and Senior Fellow) (Distinguished Fellow and Professor) &  (Professor and Director and Senior Fellow)

  3. Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo, Canada

    Andrew F. Cooper (Distinguished Fellow and Professor) (Distinguished Fellow and Professor)

  4. Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Timothy M. Shaw (Professor and Director and Senior Fellow) (Professor and Director and Senior Fellow)

Copyright information

© 2010 Daniel P. Erikson

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Erikson, D.P. (2010). The Obama Administration and Latin America: Towards a New Partnership?. In: Mace, G., Cooper, A.F., Shaw, T.M. (eds) Inter-American Cooperation at a Crossroads. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294837_3

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