This text focuses on U.S. relations with Latin America from the advent of the New Diplomacy late in the nineteenth century to the present. Providing a balanced perspective, it presents both the United States’ view that the Western Hemisphere needed to unite under a common democratic, capitalistic society and the Latin American countries’ response to U.S. attempts to impose these goals on its southern neighbors. The authors examine the reciprocal interactions between the two regions, each with distinctive purposes, outlooks, interests, and cultures. They also place U.S.–Latin American relations within the larger global political and economic context.

"The first edition of this book, Gilderhus’s The Second Century, has been a respected standard treatment of US–Latin American relations since its publication in 1999. After the author's death in 2015, historians LaFevor and LaRosa proposed a revised and updated edition. They have respected Gilderhus’s work, maintained his standards, and left most of his prose intact, and their contributions have made this an excellent new edition. The authors have updated the chapter on Cuba, added a chapter that demonstrates changes in the post–Cold War relationship, updated the bibliography, added a photo section (most are LaFevor’s photos from Cuba and Mexico), and included a brief historiographical essay as a preface. The final chapter broadens Gilderhus’s traditional diplomatic approach. It includes a section on trade (and NAFTA in particular) and one on sources of conflict between Latin America and the US, as Gilderhus did, but it also investigates cultural cross-fertilization. As the Hispanic population of the US has increased, Latin American cuisine, literature, music, sports (soccer and Latin players in Major League baseball), and movies have traveled north as regularly as US influence travels to Latin America. A worthy successor to the first edition. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Most levels/libraries." - CHOICE