What Not to Do in the Middle East

Central America is the oldest region of U.S. external influence. It also remains one of the most important for U.S. interests. The history of American involvement in the region is a mixed one, with great successes, but also tragic failures and crimes. In recent decades, American supremacy has been maintained, the Communist threat in the region defeated, and forms of democracy established. But the cost to the peoples of the region, and to the international reputation of the U.S., has often been very high; and even today, many of the countries in the region remain extremely poor, with weak, corrupt and unstable democratic systems.

Strangely, however, the history of the U.S. in this region is only rarely referred to when it comes to reflecting on U.S. strategies elsewhere. This panel aims to help remedy that defect by examining the history of U.S. anti-guerrilla and democracy-building efforts in Central America, and comparing them to our present-day strategy in the Middle East.

Participants
Panelists:

• Bill Barnes, Ph.D
  Expert on Democracy and Security in Central America

• Bill LeoGrande
  Dean of the School of Public Affairs and Professor of Government, American University
  Author, Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992

• George Vickers, Ph.D
  Regional Director for Latin America, Open Society Institute

Moderator:

• Anatol Lieven
  Senior Research Fellow, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation
  Author of the forthcoming book, Ethical Realism and U.S. Foreign Policy