Hot off the presses in Perspectives on Politics, “The Promise of Precommitment in Democracy and Human Rights: The Hopeful, Forgotten Failure of the Larreta Doctrine,” my new article with Max Paul Friedman.
We look back to a 1945-46 debate about how to square sovereignty and (non)intervention with the protection and promotion of human rights and democracy in Latin America. We explore ideas for a precommitment regime proposed and supported by fragile democracies in the region, and also backed by the United States. The article draws on archival work in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and the United States. Thanks to the many, many people who hosted us, gave feedback, etc. We started this article in summer 2015, so it’s been a long road!
Thanks to British Council (Colombia), British Academy (Brazil), Fulbright (Chile), and the Truman Library Institute (USA) for providing generous travel funding. Thanks to FGV (Rio), PUC (Santiago), and UniAndes (Bogota) for hosting me during visits.
And thanks to Max Paul Friedman for being such a tremendous coauthor, mentor, and friend.
Tom Long, PhD 