End of the Monroe Doctrine
The end of the Monroe Doctrine marks a significant shift in the United States' approach to its relationships with Latin America. Originally articulated by President James Monroe in 1823, the doctrine established the U.S. as a protector of the Western Hemisphere against European colonization and asserted American influence over regional affairs. Over the years, it became a justification for various interventions in Latin America and beyond, embodying the concept of Manifest Destiny and the belief in spreading American ideals. However, in a speech on November 18, 2012, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that U.S. policy would no longer rely on the Monroe Doctrine as a framework for intervention. This change emphasizes a new paradigm of equality and partnership with Latin American countries, focusing on cooperative security and mutual interests rather than unilateral intervention. The shift reflects broader changes in U.S. foreign policy, particularly during the Obama administration, which sought to redefine engagement with the region in a way that respects the sovereignty of Latin American nations.
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End of the Monroe Doctrine
End of the Monroe Doctrine
On November 18, 2012, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the end of the Monroe Doctrine in a speech given to the Inter-American Dialogue. He claimed that it was no longer the United States' policy to intervene in the politics of other countries in Latin America. The original Monroe Doctrine was laid out in a speech given by former president James Munroe in his seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. It was first used to protect lands in the Western Hemisphere from colonization by European powers and then to conquer the American West and Southwest in a grand effort to acquire land in North America and territories in South America. Although originally limited to refer to countries in Latin America, the Monroe Doctrine was invoked for use during many future interventions in other countries. The cornerstone of Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine assured US dominance on the international political sphere. It was later used by extension as the de facto reason to intervene in the affairs of countries around the world, to bring democracy and the American way to other cultures, and to stop the empire-building aspirations of Germany during World Wars I and II and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The assumption was that American ideology should be spread to other misguided cultures that could be changed to follow the American way. In the 2010s, President Barack Obama substantially reduced US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also claimed in his foreign policy speech in May 2014 that the greatest threat to US interests was terrorism, a nebulous enemy that was not contained by the borders of nation-states or hemispheres. Obama changed the focus of US foreign intervention from direct use of the US military in other countries to aiding forces sympathetic to US policies in other countries in fighting terrorist networks. A portion of Secretary of State John Kerry's speech speech follows:
Secretary of State John Kerry's speech on November 18, 2012:
When people speak of the Western Hemisphere, they often talk about transformations that have taken place, but the truth is one of the biggest transformations has happened right here in the United States of America. In the early days of our republic, the United States made a choice about its relationship with Latin America. President James Monroe, who was also a former Secretary of State, declared that the United States would unilaterally, and as a matter of fact, act as the protector of the region. The doctrine that bears his name asserted our authority to step in and oppose the influence of European powers in Latin America. And throughout our nation's history, successive presidents have reinforced that doctrine and made a similar choice.
Today, however, we have made a different choice. The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over. The relationship—that's worth applauding. That's not a bad thing. The relationship that we seek and that we have worked hard to foster is not about a United States declaration about how and when it will intervene in the affairs of other American states. It's about all of our countries viewing one another as equals, sharing responsibilities, cooperating on security issues, and adhering not to doctrine but to the decisions that we make as partners to advance the values and the interests that we share.