James Siekmeier

Teaching Fields:

U.S. History, U.S. Diplomatic History, United States-Latin American Relations, Modern Latin American History

Contact:

James Siekmeier
220E Woodburn Hall
P.O. Box 6303
Morgantown, WV 26506-6303
Phone: (304) 293-2421 ext. 5225
Fax: (304) 293-3616
James.Siekmeier@mail.wvu.edu

• Degrees

  Ph.D. Cornell University, 1993
  MA, Cornell University, 1989
  BA, Oberlin College, 1984, with honor

• Research Interests

  My book, Aid, Nationalism, and Inter-American Relations: Guatemala, Bolivia, and the United States, 1945-1961 (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1999) examined how the United States and key Latin American nations clashed over economic policy for the hemisphere in the early Cold War. U.S. foreign policymakers preached the benefits of free market capitalism and the free flow of goods and (private-sector) investment capital. Such policies, they argued, although in the self-interest of the United States, were important for many reasons. An economically-open hemisphere was necessary to build vibrant economies in Latin America which would provide for growing populations, while immunizing Latin America from the spread of left-wing and communist ideas. However, the Latin American nations viewed economic nationalism—controls on the sale/use of valuable natural resources and (private-sector) capital flows, as well as land reform and the creation of state-run industries in key sectors—as critical to their own economic success. Although U.S. officials managed to get some Latin American nations to “buy into” their vision, many Latin American nations stubbornly propounded economic nationalist policies in the 1950s and beyond.

  In the book manuscript I am completing, tentatively entitled From Ike to Che: The Bolivian Revolution and the United States, 1945-1971, I investigate the multifaceted relationship between the most powerful nation in the world and one of world’s poorer nations, Bolivia. Despite the asymmetry of power, Bolivia’s relationship with the United States has been a two-way street. Bolivia has managed, in some ways, to influence its relationship with the United States. Some Bolivian leaders have skillfully used Bolivia’s chronic political instability to obtain increased U.S. support. These officials informed their counterparts in Washington that Bolivia could be on the verge of political collapse—unless U.S. leaders gave increased assistance—which then was quickly forthcoming. In addition, during the Cold War, Bolivian officials quietly sent out feelers to the Eastern Bloc nations for assistance, in order to leverage more aid from the United States. The technique worked: as soon as U.S. officials discovered Bolivia’s contacts with the communist nations, Washington increased assistance to Bolivia. Moreover Bolivian leaders have resisted Washington’s attempts to promote U.S. culture into Bolivia, such as when Bolivia abruptly asked U.S. Peace Corps volunteers to leave in 1971. Bolivian leaders disagreed with Peace Corps policy of promoting population/birth control; Bolivian officials thought limiting Bolivia’s population would weaken the nation in the long run.

• Grad Students Advised

  MA
  Benjamin Francis
  Josh Eposito [co-chair Hodge]

  PhD
  Joel Christenson
  Jordan Lieser

• Courses Offered

  Hist 242 Latin America: Reform and Revolution
  Hist 463 American Foreign Policy, 1776-1941
  Hist 464 American Foreign Policy, 1941-present
  Hist 465 Vietnam War
  Hist 765 Readings in US diplomatic history
  Hist 766 Seminar in US diplomatic history

• Publications

  “La Revolución Nacional en Bolivia y los Estados Unidos: conflicto, nacionalismo, y negociatión, 1952-1971,” in Roberto García Ferreira, ed., Nada templada: La Guerra Fria Latinamericana (Montevideo: Universidad de la República, Departamento de Historia Americana, forthcoming)

  “Persistent Condor and Predatory Eagle: Bolivian Relations with the United States, 1952-1964,” essay published in Statler, Kathryn C., and Johns, Andrew L., eds., The Eisenhower Administration, the Third World, and the Globalization of the Cold War, Rowman and Littlefield (2006).

  “Politics, Access, and History: The Chile Declassification Project of 1998-2000,” Hemisphere (October 2004).

  “Trailblazer Diplomat: Victor Andrade Uzquiano’s Efforts to Influence U.S. Policy, 1944-1962,” Diplomatic History 28 (June 2004).

  “A Sacrificial Llama? The Expulsion of the Peace Corps from Bolivia in 1971,” Pacific Historical Review 69 (February 2000).