Using multinational sources, the book explores how Latin American leaders influenced US policy in the context of asymmetrical power relations.

Tom Long is a lecturer at the University of Reading. He has been a visiting professor in International Relations at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas in Mexico City and previously taught at American University's School of International Service, where he completed his Ph.D. His research focuses on dynamics of asymmetry in international relations, particularly foreign policies of Latin American states vis-a-vis the United States. His work has been published in International Security, Diplomatic History, and Latin American Research Review, and has won prizes from the International Studies Association's Diplomatic Studies Section and the Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies.

1. Asymmetry, influence, and US-Latin American relations; 2. Operação Pan-Americana: fighting poverty and fighting Communism; 3. Completing the nation: Omar Torrijos and the long quest for the Panama Canal; 4. A recalculation of interests: NAFTA and Mexican foreign policy; 5. An urgent opportunity: the birth of Plan Colombia; 6. Conclusions; References.