The dual principles of US foreign policy were announced in Congress in 1823 by US President Monroe’s message. These two principles are: 1) the formation of new colonies; 2) the political restriction of European governments on the Continent. The doctrine was announced for two reasons, One was that the Russian government had banned non-Russian ships from traveling northwest to North America, (At that time Russia was in Alaska), And another, fearing the alliance of European governments (Prussia, Austria and Russia) that could hasten Spain’s aid and bring Latin America’s newly liberated countries under their control.
How did it all start?
When Europeans were in bloody wars in their colonial races and their internal revolutions peaked for more modern and democratic governments, and Europe became gravid with the create of new nation-states, the United States understood the mood well and Keeping it away from European hostilities, it also identified areas of influence on the continent of America (Latin America), which made it more centralized to increase power and wealth and receive less damage.
But what was the decision and method?
James Monroe (1758-1831) The 5th President of the United States, December 2 1823, in his annual speech at a joint session of the two legislatures, declared: “We will be neutral about Europe’s differences with each other, but any new efforts for intervention and colonization of the American areas, north or south of the continent, will be considered a military invasion of the United States and will regard it to war and we will launch armed defense and counter-attack. This warning is about the future, and the US government will not interfere in the current situation of American continent (European Colonial Affairs on this continent).
This doctrine, which has become a cornerstone of US foreign policy principles, was proclaimed during the rise of the Latin American continent for independence. In those years, except in Peru, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, elsewhere Latin America had declared independence, fearing that Spain and Portugal would send a fresh force to suppress independence.
There are several reasons for this decision:
- The United States did not yet have an influential foreign national power.
- At that time, Europe was an internal battlefield that has not much interest to the newly founded America.
- The United States still lacked a stable homeland security, which was later revealed in the breakaway wars.
- America feared European intervention on the American continent.
Following the publication of the Monroe Doctrine, the Russian czar, which had controlled Alaska and settled Immigrant in the northwest of the American continent near San Francisco, issued a similar declaration and banned other ships from entering the waters of the area. Of course, the Czar’s law was not lasting, and in the year of the 1867, czar, was selling the vast area at a modest price to the US (seven million and two hundred thousand dollars – that is, every 72,4 square kilometers , one dollar) because of economic problems.
International law has never recognized this doctrine; however, the United States has repeatedly (including on supervision of the Panama Canal) done by that. According to this doctrine, the United States did not interfere in European affairs until World War II and did not participate in the United Nations. But the appearance of imperialist tendencies in the United States, pessimistic Latin American governments about the application of the Monroe doctrine as a means of maintaining American dominance. In the year 1902, Germany, Italy, and Britain besieged Venezuela to force it to pay its debts. As a result, Theodore Roosevelt (current president of the United States) offered a broad interpretation of the Monroe doctrine and declared that the United States could interfere on its own through European governments seized the American continent, even against an abusive American government. In addition to Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy (during the Cuban Missile Crisis) and Ronald Reagan (during the Granada Crisis and the Nicaraguan issue) have also cited Monroe doctrine.
The US has so far mentioned this doctrine in justifying its work in the Caribbean sea (including the Cuban issue). John Foster Dulles (foreign minister of US in the year 1954) declared the creation of a communist government in Latin America, though elected by popular vote, opposed the doctrine; because he considered such a government “by its very nature” Is under foreign influence. “
However, US foreign influence gradually diminished, with Nicaraguan President Ortega announcing the death of the Monroe Doctrine at the Slack Summit. At the meeting, Hugo Chavez (Venezuelan President) called the summit a milestone for the development of the region and requested for an end to the American domination in the region..ssuent 1902,ominance.
Through the launch of the Latin American and Caribbean Community Summit, “Chavez address to the “Women and men who have long fought for the unity of this region” said that Latin America is a land of great men and women with the potential for trade and development, He is also appreciatig political leaders, including Fidel Castro (former Cuban leader), Nestor Kirchner (former Argentine president) and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (current president of Brazil), for creating a region free from foreign intervention and urged member of states to overcome political, cultural and economic differences and achieve the goals of the newly established union.
The overwhelming majority of countries participated in the summit, while the two northern delegates were not present, was an important step towards unity among the southern states of the continent. Daniel Ortega described the meeting as an opportunity to bolster the United States’ fight against development, adding that on December 2,1883 the United States sought to expand the region’s space through the Monroe Doctrine, calling it its backyard, but today holding the summit on December 2,2011 we have issued the death sentence for this doctrine.
The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, also called the meeting an example of the unification of the Latin American and Caribbean brothers and friends countries, and said that the idea of a united Latin American fighter and liberator, Simon Bolivar, about the unification of all nations in this region is still alive and well in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Author: Qodsiyeh Paini