About the Book

America‘s Other War demonstrates that in Colombia the US has long-supported a pervasive campaign of state violence directed against both armed insurgents and a wide range of completely unarmed progressive social forces. While the pretext may change from one decade to the next, the basic policies remain the same: maintain the pro-US Colombian state, protect US economic interests and preserve strategic access to oil. Colombia is now the third largest recipient of US military aid in the world, and the largest by far in Latin America. Using extensive declassified documents, this book shows that the so-called ‘war on drugs‘, and now the new ‘war on terror‘ in Colombia are actually part of a long-term Colombian ‘war of state terror‘ that predates the end of the Cold War with US policy contributing directly to the disgraceful human rights situation in Colombia today.

Commendations

"Colombia is the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the hemisphere. The sources are deeply rooted in Colombia‘s own history, and in policies of the hegemonic power that are no less deeply rooted in its own history and institutions. This study provides a uniquely perceptive analysis of the tragic interaction, and its far-reaching implications for understanding the past and the evolving global order." - Noam Chomsky

"US administrations keep finding new excuses for intervening in Latin American affairs. Colombia is the most blatant example, as Doug Stokes‘ trenchant account of the US‘s shifting agenda - from Cold War, to guerrillas, then the drug trade, and now the ‘war on terror‘ - so forcefully shows. Whether called imperialism or technical assistance, the consistent result is state terror and human suffering on a vast scale." - James Petras: Professor of Sociology (retired), Binghamton University, New York

"The two great turning-points of the last few years have, or so we‘ve been told, have been the end of the Cold War and 9/11. Not so argues Doug Stokes in this most challenging of volumes. Now,as before, the United States pursues the same hegemonic project simply using different cover stories - first communism, then drugs and now terrorism - to justify intervention in Colombia. For those looking for reassurance this is not the book for them: for those however seeking to peel back the layers of officialese and get to the heart of things this is a must read." - Professor Michael Cox, London School of Economics and Editor of International Politics

"This is a well-researched and impeccably documented expose of U.S. duplicity and intervention in Colombia. As Doug Stokes shows, Washington‘s rhetoric has changed from containing communism to the war on drugs and terrorism. But behind it all is the same cynical policy of terror and repression against the Colombian people to prevent social change and maintain control. This book fills a critical gap in the literature on Colombia and on post-Cold War inter-American relations. It also has wider implications for International Relations theory and for our understanding of transnational conflict in this era of globalization." - William I. Robinson, professor of Sociology, Global and International studies, and Latin American and Iberian Studies, University of California-Santa Barbara

"‘America‘s Other War‘ paints a very disturbing picture. Highlighting continuities in Washington‘s strategy that go back to the Cold War and show up elsewhere in Latin America, Doug Stokes shows that there is depressingly little ‘new‘ about the growing U.S involvement in Colombia‘s conflict. With very thorough research and a highly readable narrative, America‘s Other War goes beyond the liberal-conservative debate over Plan Colombia, the ‘war on drugs‘ and the ‘war on terror‘, reminding us of the central role played by the often brutal pursuit of economic interests." - Adam Isacson, Director of Programs, Center for International Policy, Washington

'His essay on US intervention in Colombia from the cold war through the war on drugs, to the war on terror, is timely, cogent, and passionately argued. Stokes brings new evidence to bear on the debate over US policy towards Latin America's most violence-plagued country...Stokes's book represents a valuable and up-to-date survey of US support for counter-insurgency in Colombia.' - Luis van Isschot, The International History Review

Contents

1. Introduction: Interpreting US foreign policy in Colombia
2. US objectives in Latin America during the Cold War
3. US objectives in Latin America after the Cold War
4. Installing State Terror in Colombia
5. From Communism to the War on Terror
6. Conclusion: Counter-insurgency, Capital and Crude

About the Author

Doug Stokes is a lecturer in International Politics at the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth, University of Wales