The Monroe Doctrine (Al Jazeera)

The Monroe Doctrine was a principle proposed by US President James Monroe in his seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. The principle stemmed from the growing concern of the United States that continental powers might attempt to re-conquer Spain's former colonies in Latin America after their independence.

This political principle for South American countries is one of the most important pillars of American foreign policy. Its core principle is to regard South America as America's backyard, and not to allow any external power, regardless of its strength, to take root in this strategically vital area for American national security.

Historical Background

The republics of Latin America gained independence from Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule in 1823 and were formally recognized by the United States. However, this did not protect them from the threat of European powers re-colonizing them, especially after the Spanish monarchy regained power and formed the Holy Alliance with Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

As Russia declared sovereignty over Oregon (a state in the northwestern part of the United States), the tension of European powers possibly returning to Latin America increased, and the United States became increasingly concerned about its colonial interests and ambitions to control the Pacific coast of North America.

In this context, the then-superpower Britain proposed to the United States: issue a joint statement to reject any potential intervention by the Holy Alliance in the Western Hemisphere.

US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams intervened in the matter, opposed Britain's proposal, and suggested President Moreno to issue a separate statement to show America's independence and its status as a regional power, rather than a vassal state of Britain.

James Monroe, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States (Getty Images)

The Monroe Doctrine Statement

The Monroe Doctrine was introduced in President Monroe's seventh annual address to Congress on December 2, 1823. The printed version of the concluding part of the president's speech (later called "the Monroe Doctrine") appeared in a local newspaper in Urbana, Ohio.

This American declaration explicitly rejected the presence of European powers in the southern part of the American continent. In exchange, the United States promised not to interfere in the affairs of the "Old World," while considering any aggression by any European power against its neighbors as an aggression against the United States itself.

The Principles and Basis of the Declaration

In the annual address, Monroe emphasized that the Old World and the New World are based on different systems and should remain separated. He proposed four basic principles:

  • The United States would not interfere in the affairs or internal conflicts of European powers.
  • The United States acknowledged and would not interfere in the existing colonies and dependencies of European powers in the Western Hemisphere.
  • The Western Hemisphere would be closed to any new colonial plans.
  • The United States would consider any action by a European power attempting to suppress or conquer any country in the Western Hemisphere as an act of aggression against the United States.

"The Holy Alliance" included Spain, Russia, Prussia (an ancient kingdom within the current territory of Germany) and Austria (Al Jazeera)

Symbolic Declaration

The Monroe Doctrine marked the beginning of the United States' "expansionist" strategy in Latin America, although the symbolic significance of the declaration outweighed its actual enforcement; Washington lacked the military capability to implement the declaration.

The declaration did not prevent European actions that ignored Monroe's warnings, such as Spain regaining control of the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, in 1861. Until the end of the 19th century, the United States remained focused on expanding westward to the Pacific coast.

Nevertheless, the declaration enjoyed widespread support in Latin America, seen as a safeguard for its fragile independence. Francisco de Paula Santander considered it "comfort for humanity" and a pillar for protecting Colombia, while Venezuelan leader Simon Bolivar saw the United States and Britain as the region's defense line - countries like Chile and Argentina also held the same view.

During the American Civil War, some cartoons circulated, mocking Washington's inability to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine, proposed in 1823, aimed at unilaterally protecting the Western Hemisphere, but essentially it was a policy without military backing.

Monroe and his Secretary of State knew that the real deterrent force was the British navy, not the United States itself. Since Washington was not a strong power at the time, and European powers had no strong interest in re-colonizing Latin America, the declaration had limited influence outside the United States.

In 1833, when Britain occupied the Falkland Islands and later expanded into Latin America, Washington did not abide by the Monroe Doctrine. But with the presidency of James Polk from 1845 to 1848, the Monroe Doctrine was revived; he warned Britain and Spain not to attempt to establish a military presence in Oregon, California, or the Yucatan Peninsula.

After the end of the American Civil War, Washington began to show stronger determination to carry out its will. It gathered forces along the Rio Grande, pressured France to withdraw its puppet regime in Mexico. In 1867, under American pressure, Paris was forced to withdraw its troops, ending the plan.

In 1904, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt added what later became known as the "Roosevelt Corollary" (Getty Images)

Roosevelt Corollary

With the arrival of the 20th century, the interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine significantly expanded, coinciding with the rise of the United States as a global power. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt added what later became known as the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, granting Washington the power to intervene in the affairs of any country in the Americas if there was "open and continuous misconduct."

Although named the "Roosevelt Doctrine," it actually marked a major expansion of the Monroe Doctrine, transforming it from a defensive policy aimed at protecting the independence of Latin America into a tool for American hegemony.

The main purpose of this corollary was to prevent "European powers from exploiting weak states" and undermining the Monroe Doctrine, such as the naval blockade of Venezuela by Britain, Italy, and Germany in 1902 to force it to repay its debts.

Roosevelt's response to these actions was to demonstrate American strength and confront European powers with fleets. In speeches to Congress in 1904 and 1905, he emphasized the "Big Stick Policy," which linked American hegemony to a moral commitment to the region.

During the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the United States intervened militarily in Latin America on multiple occasions (Getty Images)

Justification for Military Interventions

In 1865, the U.S. government cited the Monroe Doctrine to exert diplomatic and military pressure on Mexican President Benito Juárez. This support enabled Juárez to lead a successful revolution, overthrowing the French-backed Mexican Emperor Maximilian.

By 1904, European creditors threatened to use force to intervene in Latin American countries to recover debts, and President Roosevelt declared that the United States had the right to deploy an "international police force" to curb such "persistent crimes."

Although the original intent of the Monroe Doctrine was to prevent European powers from intervening, Roosevelt reinterpreted it as a justification for sending U.S. troops to the region. As a global power, Washington began to claim the right to direct intervention.

Therefore, the U.S. Marines intervened in Santo Domingo, Nicaragua, and Haiti in 1904, 1911, and 1915 respectively, ostensibly to prevent European powers from intervening. This theory thus became an excuse for direct military and political intervention under the guise of maintaining regional order and stability.

These intervention actions raised alarms among other Latin American countries, and the relationship between the "Northern Giant" and its southern neighbors remained tense for many years, especially considering the numerous crimes committed by the United States under the pretext of maintaining its own security, including several massacres.

After the Civil War, the United States mobilized its army to pressure France to withdraw from the Mexican regime (Getty Images)

Evolving Policies

With the arrival of the 1930s and the approaching Second World War, the U.S. policy toward Latin America underwent a significant transformation, and interpretations of the Monroe Doctrine heritage also changed.

President Franklin Roosevelt adopted the "Good Neighbor Policy," emphasizing negotiation and cooperation rather than force, and reaffirmed the non-intervention principle during the Seventh Inter-American Conference held in Uruguay in 1933.

The signing of the Rio Charter in 1947 marked a gradual shift of the policy towards a multilateral framework, transferring the defense responsibility of the region from Washington to the 19 signatory countries. The establishment of the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1948 indicated that the adversarial aspect of Roosevelt's policy was gradually losing its central position.

In later crises, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the Kennedy administration relied on the Rio Charter rather than the Monroe Doctrine, just as President Lyndon Johnson did in 1965 to justify the intervention in the Dominican Republic, without mentioning the original Monroe Doctrine.

Emergency meeting of the U.S. National Security Council after the Cuban Missile Crisis (John F. Kennedy Library website)

The Cold War

The Monroe Doctrine was one of the cornerstones of Washington's policy toward Latin America, and its influence was most evident during the Cold War.

When the Kennedy administration discovered that the Soviet Union planned to deploy nuclear missile launchers in Cuba, the impact of the Monroe Doctrine reached its peak. Cuba is just a few kilometers away from Florida.

The United States immediately imposed a strict naval blockade on Cuba to prevent Soviet supplies from arriving. The world seemed to be on the brink of a third world war until the Soviet Union made a concession at the last moment, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The crisis eventually ended with Moscow abandoning the plan, withdrawing the missiles, and dismantling the related facilities. In exchange, Washington promised not to invade Cuba or overthrow the Fidel Castro regime and to dismantle its air force and missile bases in Turkey.

It was John Adams who advised President Monroe to let the United States act alone and declare the rejection of European presence in Europe (Getty Images)

A Tool of Power

Although the influence of this theory declined in official U.S. discourse later on, it became increasingly prominent in political debates during the Cold War. It became a common slogan for both liberals and conservatives when analyzing U.S. interventions in the Western Hemisphere.

Outside the United States, the theory was associated with a sense of superiority that justified hegemony, especially after frequent coups, CIA covert interventions, and a series of failed military operations. Despite the concept of "continental defense" theoretically, Washington continued to take unilateral actions under the pretext of dealing with the "communist threat."

With the end of the Cold War, many scholars claimed that the theory had politically died out. Historian Gaddis Smith wrote in the late 1990s that the end of the confrontation with Moscow inevitably led to the end of the Monroe Doctrine treaty. Others argued that since the transition to multilateralism around World War II, the theory had lost its value.

However, the Monroe Doctrine has not disappeared. In the 21st century, this theory is still revered as a framework for American foreign policy. For the right, the theory embodies a firm policy of containing any foreign influence, viewing it as a direct threat that must be resolutely responded to.

Source: American media

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7574540228963140148/

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