The Hovering Giant (Revised Edition): U.S. Responses to Revolutionary Change in Latin America, 1910—1985 (Pitt Latin American Series)

In the first edition of The Hovering Giant, Cole Blasier analyzed U.S. response to revolutions in Latin America from Madero in Mexico to Allende in Chile.  He explained why U.S. leaders sponsored paramilitary units to overthrow revolutionary governments in Guatemala and Cuba and compromised their own differences with revolutionary governments in Mexico and Bolivia.  The protection of private U.S. interests was part of the explanation, but Blasier gave greater emphasis to rivalry with Germany or the Soviet Union.

Now in this revised edition, Blasier also examines the responses of the Carter and Reagan administrations to the Grenadian and Nicaraguan revolutions and the revolt in El Salvador.  He also brings up to date the interpretation of U.S.-Cuban relations.

Blasier stresses U.S. defense of its preeminent position in the Caribean Basin, as well as rivalry with the Soviet Union, to explain these later U.S. responses.  Seemingly unaware of historical experience, Washington followed patterns in Central America and Grenada similar to earlier patterns in Guatemala, Cuba, and Chile even though the latter had adverse effects on U.S. security and economic interests.

Cole Blasier, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, is author of The Giant’s Rival: The USSR and Latin America.  Blasier studied or taught at Universities in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico and served as a career foreign service officer in Belgrade, Bonn, Moscow, and Washington.  Because of long first-hand experience in official Washington and Moscow and extensive residence in Latin America, Blasier is uniquely qualified to appraise this complex arena of conflict.