Overview

The Dictator Dilemma tells the story of US bilateral relations with the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship (1954–1989). Tyvela focuses on how and why that diplomatic relationship changed during the Cold War from cooperation, based on mutual opposition to communism, to conflict, based on clashing expectations concerning democratic reforms and human rights. The policy debates by officials in Washington and in Asunción brought out a tension that has defined US diplomacy for more than a century: how can the United States partner with tyrants while credibly proclaiming to advance a democratic mission in the world? Tyvela argues that the Stroessner regime was symbolic of a broader foreign policy struggle to perpetuate, enforce, and ultimately redefine the importance of friendly dictators to US global and hemispheric interests.

Full Product Details

9780822968481

Table of Contents

Reviews

An ambitiously conceived, expertly researched, and engagingly told work of history. Tyvela has provided a landmark study of U.S.-Paraguayan relations, and a richly rewarding read for anyone with an interest in U.S. policy in Latin America. * Diplomatic History * Tyvela has written an excellent, detailed history of US relations with Paraguay during Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship from 1954 to 1989. Tyvela’s study is a comprehensive one that utilizes a variety of sources and extensively plumbs both US and available Paraguayan archives. His book wrestles with an important question in U.S. foreign policy, that of America’s longstanding reliance on regional despots while still proclaiming its mission to protect and expand democracy around the world. * E.I.A.L. * Kirk Tyvela’s important new work puts into perspective how not only Stroessner consolidated his power locally by limiting dissent within his own political party (the Colorados) but also, more importantly for Tyvela, his regime was able to maintain stability and control by securing economic aid in the form of grants and loans from a compliant U.S. government. * Hispanic American Historical Review * Tyvela’s diplomatic history of the three-and-a-half-decade relationship between Washington and the Stronato offers a ‘top-down’ analysis focusing on how one U.S. administration after the next negotiated the inherent contradictions of prodemocratic rhetoric and dictatorial alliances. Though Tyvela’s monograph is far from the first to address this contradiction, it succeeds in integrating the oft-sidelined Paraguayan case into the inter-American Cold War literature. * Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies * Kirk Tyvela has produced an excellent piece of scholarship based on multi-archival research. His analysis of the U.S. approach toward Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner captures the essence of US policies toward Latin America during the Cold War. Tyvela further demonstrates how Stroessner adeptly manipulated Paraguayans and the United States. -- Stephen G. Rabe, University of Texas at Dallas Kirk Tyvela’s book on the bilateral relationship is a deeply researched and compelling addition to the literature on U.S.-Latin American relations. * The Latin Americanist * Tyvela's extensive use of the US archival record, especially during the 1950s and I960s, when support for anti-communist dictators was axiomatic and rarely challenged, lends much greater depth to the previously known trajectory of US policy towards Paraguay, as well as adding further insights into Paraguay's responses. Future studies of US Cold War policy in Latin America will no longer be able to ignore the Paraguayan case; the author has truly brought Paraguay in from the cold. * International Affairs * [Tyvela] has made excellent use of the multi-archival sources he has collected and, by carefully tracing the policy battles within the American bureaucracy, has added nuance to our understanding of the American embrace of 'friendly dictators.' * Diplomacy & Statecraft *

Author Information

Kirk Tyvela is an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available