Abstract
The Central America policies of the institutions and member states of the European Community coalesced in the mid-1980s around two main concerns: the Nicaraguan revolution and the US reaction to it. Common policies were developed on both these issues. The Sandinistas were encouraged to adopt pluralist forms of democracy, while at the same time the Europeans formulated a sometimes ambivalent but nonetheless critical view of US policy in the region. In this chapter an evaluation of the policies of four of the most important and politically diverse member states is presented. One objective is to try to decipher what interests those member states had in common, and how these interests contributed to a convergence of attitude to the region in the Council of the Communities which resulted in unanimous and continuous support for the San José process.
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Notes and References
Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics ( Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1979 ).
See J. David Singer, ‘The Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations’, in James N. Rosenau (ed.), International Politics and Foreign Policy, revised edition (New York: The Free Press, 1969 ).
George Philip, ‘British Involvement in Latin America’, in William Perry and Peter Wehner (eds), The Latin American Policies of U.S. Allies ( New York: Praeger, 1985 ), p. 33.
See Esperanza Duran, European Interests in Latin America ( London: RIIA/Routledge & Kegan, 1985 ), p. 85.
See Tilman Evers, ‘European Social Democracy in Latin America: The case of West Germany’, in Jenny Pearce (ed.), The European Challenge: Europe’s New Role in Latin America ( London: LAB, 1982 ), p. 87.
Walder de Goes, ‘Brazil Turns to Western Europe: Changing Perspectives’, in Wolf Grabendorff and Riordan Roett (eds), Latin America, Western Europe and the U.S.: Reevaluating the Atlantic Triangle ( New York: Praeger, 1985 ), p. 111.
Solon Barraclough et al., Aid that Counts: The Western Contribution to Development and Survival in Nicaragua ( Amsterdam: TNI/CRIES, 1988 ), p. 82.
Helen Hintjens, ‘France in the Caribbean’, in Paul Sutton (ed.), Europe and the Caribbean ( London: Macmillan, 1991 ), pp. 61–2.
Guy Hermet, ‘Amérique Latine: l’heure des retrouvailles’, in François Joyaux and Patrick Wajsman (eds), Pour une nouvelle Politique étrangère ( Paris: Hachette, 1986 ), pp. 433–4.
Michel Tatu, ‘Europe, the United States and Central America: A Nest of Misunderstandings’, in Joseph Cirincione (ed.), Central America and the Western Alliance ( New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985 ), p. 119.
See Luis Carvajel-Urrestia, ‘L’Europe occidentale: témoin et complice’, in Marie Duflo and Françoise Ruellan (eds), Le Volcan Nicaraguayen ( Paris: La Découverte, 1985 ), pp. 131–2.
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© 1995 Hazel Smith
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Smith, H. (1995). Member-State Policy towards Central America. In: European Union Foreign Policy and Central America. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230378599_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230378599_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39254-4
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