Question

Central America is one of the poorest and least industrialized areas of the Western hemisphere, while the United States is the wealthiest and most industrialized areas of the hemisphere. Why did the United States become so powerful and wealthy and Central America remain so poor? Is there a relationship between the divergent developments of each part of the Americas?

2. What role has the United States played in Central America and the Caribbean since 1898? Why has the United States paid special attention to this region? Has the United States been a positive or negative factor in the development of Central America?

3. What do you think Walter La Feber means by “inevitable revolutions” in Central America? Do you agree with his assessment?

4. According to Bruce Cummings, what role has the United States played in the Korean peninsula? Is it a positive or negative role? Do you agree with his assessment?

5. Compare and contrast La Feber’s and Cummings’ views of United States foreign policy. Which do you agree with more?

Answer 1

Central America is one of the poorest and least industrialized areas of the Western Hemisphere. The major reasons for this are as :

Population : Because of large size of population, whatever steps have been undertaken to develop Central America turns out to be insufficient.

Corruption : Inspite of having vast amount of natural resources and minerals, due to corruption the economy is not doing well.

Ineffective Leadership : Due to ineffective leadership and improper guidance, the economy is not flourishing.

On the other hand, as United States is able to control the population and corruption, it has become the wealthiest country. Moreover, the effective leadership and appropriate guidance the economy is flourishing.