Page 91 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1392 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

reform, and social development. He promised billions of Slater, J. (1967). The OAS and United States foreign policy. Columbus:
dollars to assist the efforts of Latin American govern- Ohio State University Press.
Thomas, C. R., & Magliore, J T. (2000). Regionalism versus multilater-
ments. But, as the United States became preoccupied alism:The Organization of American States in a global changing envi-
with the war in Vietnam, the U.S. government reduced ronment. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Wiarda, H. J. (1992). American foreign policy toward Latin America in
commitments to the program, and the OAS disbanded
the 80s and 90s. New York: New York University Press.
its committee to implement the alliance in 1973.
The influence of the Organization of American States
began to decline with the collapse of the former Soviet
Union and the attendant end of the Cold War, as well as Orientalism
the involvement of major international agencies in Latin
America. For the United States, matters in Latin America ew historical terms have been as central to attempts
seemingly mattered less than peace in the Middle East, Fto explain the emergence of the modern world sys-
relations with the People’s Republic of China, helping tem as Orientalism—Western study and defining of the
Eastern Europe negotiate its post-Soviet future, and ten- East. Orientalism must be understood in the context of
sions on the Indian subcontinent.The International Mon- the global history of colonialism and imperialism. An
etary Fund and the World Bank began to play increas- examination of Orientalism in such disciplines as the
ingly important roles in assisting the economies and study of “Oriental” literature reveals the desire on the part
governments of many of the countries of the Caribbean of European civilization to acquire an image of its oppo-
and Central and South America. The end of the Cold site: the “other.” Postcolonial critics such as Homi K.
War has helped bring about a revitalization of the OAS, Bhabha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak have argued
but future prospects hinge on dealing adequately with that literary texts dating from the colonial and imperial
the inequality of power between the United States and periods in particular can be exposed as claiming (West-
the Latin American members, especially given concerns ern) dominance over the rest of the world.
for democracy, human rights, security, and trade and eco-
nomic prosperity. Edward Said and
Orientalism
Charles M. Dobbs
The American-Palestinian professor of English and com-
parative literature, Edward Said (1935–2003), said that
literature, the arts, and politics were inseparable. His Ori-
Further Reading
entalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient (1978), a
Ball, M. M. (1969). The OAS in transition. Durham, NC: Duke Univer-
sity Press. provocative and polemical study that received praise
Calvert, P. (1994). The international politics of Latin America. New York: and controversy in equal measure since its first publica-
St. Martin’s Press.
Hartlyn, J., Schoultz, L., & Varas,A. (Eds.). (1992). The United States and tion, redefined Orientalism, which originally meant sim-
Latin America in the 1990s. Chapel Hill: University of North Car- ply scholarship pertaining to the Orient or knowledge of
olina Press.
McKenna, P. (1995). Canada and the OAS: From dilettante to full partner. Oriental languages and cultures. For Said, Orientalism
Ottawa, Canada: Carleton University Press. was the act, on the part of those in the West, of defining
Miller, N. (1989). Soviet relations with Latin America, 1959–1987. New themselves by defining the other, the Easterner, or Ori-
York: Cambridge University Press.
Scheman, L. R. (1988). The inter-American dilemma:The search for inter- ental. He argued that this process told as much or more
American cooperation at the centennial of the inter-American system. about the constructed self-image as about the other that
New York: Praeger.
Slater, J. (1965). A revaluation of collective security: The OAS in action. the studies were theoretically attempting to define.What
Columbus: Ohio State University Press. exactly comprises “the Orient” is not clear: For some it is