070648 KU US-Policy in Latin America during World War II (2006S)

World War II, the "fear of a 5th column" in the Western Hemisphere and the interruption of trade flows between Europe and Latin America brought some striking political and economic changes in many Latin American countries. The Office of Inter-American Affairs (1940 - 1946), headed by Nelson Rockefeller,
was assigned to the State Department and formed decisively the US-policy towards Latin America. It linked socio-economic strategies (exploitation of raw materials, health & sanitary projects, food production) with cultural-political stategies (mass media, art and culture transfers) in order to oust Europe from the Western Hemisphere, to gain Latin America's support for the war effort and to create a Pan American identity. On the basis of articles and primary sources from US archives we will discuss US-strategies, Latin American reactions and analyse also different historical discourses (culture transfer, cultural imperialism, world system). The course will be given in English.