Abstract
How does the public perceive governmental foreign policy, and how do these perceptions change? By examining newspaper coverage of military interventions in Latin America, this paper analyzes media attitudes towards US-Latin American policy over time. It compares governmental reasoning for intervention to the reasoning, and critiques of reasoning, found in the coverage. The author utilizes 1927 Nicaraguan Intervention, 1965 Dominican Republic Intervention, and Operation Just Cause as data and identifies two contrasting trends within coverage over time. First is a willingness to deviate from government-sourced narratives concerning foreign policy decisions. This trend remains static through the Dominican Republic intervention before radically altering itself during Operation Just Cause. The second is an increased understanding of historical foreign policy and the importance of historical context. This trend intensifies as the 20th century progresses. These two trends combined suggest an increased concern with US foreign policy and its designs for Latin America specifically, in coordination with a decreased trust in government-sourced narratives.
Advisor
Holt, Katherine
Department
International Relations
Recommended Citation
Jenkins, Zachary, "Revolutions and Volcanic Disturbances: Newspaper Conceptualizations of US-Latin American Foreign Policy in the 20th Century" (2016). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 7027.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/7027
Publication Date
2016
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2016 Zachary Jenkins