Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pt. 1. Policymaking and crisis management -- The Reagan Administration : on its own petard / Robert A. Pastor -- From Reagen to Bush : continuity and change in U.S. Latin American policy / Howard J. Wiarda -- The Grenada invasion : approaches to understanding / Michael J. Kryzanek -- The Bush Administration and the Invasion of Panama : explaining the choice and timing of the military option / Steve C. Ropp -- Pt. 2. Bilateral relations -- U.S.-Mexican relations : the challenge of NAFTA / George W. Grayson -- Brazil and the United States / Eul-Soo Pang -- Central America and the United States : cycles of containment and response / John A. Booth -- Latin America, Cuba, and the United States : from the eighties to the nineties -- Pt. 3 Toward the twenty-first century : challenges and opportunities -- The debt crisis and economic development / Riordan Roett -- Policy toward Western Hemisphere immigration and Human Rights / Christopher Mitchell -- Drug control and U.S. hegemony / William O. Walker -- The United States and Latin America in the world / Joseph S. Tulchin -- The championing of democracy abroad : lessons from Latin America.