This book examines conflict resolution efforts in Latin America by the Organization of American States (OAS) over the past fifty years by exploring the relationship of the United States with other member states within the context of the OAS. The book focuses on the impact of institutional factors on the influence that member states are able to wield within the organization. This innovative theoretical approach yields general insights into organizational behaviour and interstate relations within an international organization. The examination of thirty-one cases provides a wealth of empirical data and facilitates cross case comparisons.

"Carolyn Shaw not only breathes fresh analytic life into the matter of inter-American conflict resolution but also provides a corrective to the too-often ill-informed commentary on the subject. She details and analyzes a series of complex disputes during the Cold War among several Latin American states and assesses how the members of the Organization of American States, the United States paramount but not always or easily dominant among them, dealt with the crises. Shaw provides appropriate historical background and blends the entire study with acute theoretical insight with reference to both institutional dynamics and foreign policy analyses." - G. Pope Atkins, Professor Emeritus, United States Naval Academy, and recently Research Fellow, Institute for Latin American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin

"Cooperation, Conflict and Consensus in the Organization of American States provides an excellent overview and analysis of the OAS and U.S.-Latin American relations. Shaw also helps fill a significant gap in the international organization literature." - Nancy D. Lapp, California State University, Sacramento

Autorentext
CAROLYN M. SHAW is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wichita State University, USA. She has published articles in the International Journal of World Peace, The Journal of Conflict Studies, International Studies Perspectives, and Latin American Politics and Society.

Inhalt
US Foreign Policy and Institutional Relationship in the Western Hemisphere Developing Theories of International Organizations Cooperation: Historic Hemispheric Relations and the Formation of the OAS The OAS and Conflict Resolution 1948-1989 Conflict: The Ebb and Flow of US Dominance Consensus and Compromise: Cooperation between Member States Change and Continuity: Hemispheric Relations in the 1990s and the New Millenium Conclusions and Future Prospects for the OAS