Big stick policy, or "Big Bludgeon" policy. What it is?

One day, Theodore Roosevelt said the phrase: Big stick policy. It translates literally as a "big stick politics". The expression became a household word. It very vividly and figuratively characterized the behavior of the States towards their neighbors in the early 20th century. Let's see what gave the "big stick of politics" to the Latin American states, and to all other members of the world community.

Definition

Rummaged in the political reference books, we find a brief description of the history of the emergence of our expression. The United States at the beginning of the last century set a goal to achieve full supremacy in the Western Hemisphere. To do this, we needed a theory of a big club. The US policy was as follows. When building relations with neighboring countries, they conducted outwardly normal negotiations, accompanying them with implicit threats. That is, if a certain state did not want to obey, it could face open intervention. American diplomats have not threatened anyone openly. But within the framework of the "Great Cudgel of Politics" there was a thesis about the US right to aggression in certain cases, disguised as a guarantee to neighbors to help in the event of crisis situations. Roosevelt proposed this doctrine in 1901. In his speech, he mentioned the proverb: "Speak quietly, but hold a large club in your hand, and go far." This West African wisdom also gave the name to the policy of the USA of that time. It was applied, on the one hand, for expansion into weaker countries, on the other - to protect markets from European partners.

The big stick policy of the USA: the economic background

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the States had become a serious industrial-agrarian power. Corporations have become few in the country. To develop and increase profits, they needed an outward expansion. Nearby there were countries that could not compete on economic indicators with the United States. To understand what the big stick policy meant, a retrospective approach is needed. The mistress of the seas was then Great Britain. Until the end of the nineteenth century, this power was ahead of all others in economic terms. States fought desperately against the British for spheres of influence. And by the beginning of the 20th century they had achieved certain results. They have mastered their territories and they needed new resources. The political establishment of the United States decided to colonize Latin America. The idea was to subjugate states without occupying them. This method was later called neocolonial. The US entered into unfavorable agreements with the countries, effectively placing them in a subordinate position. You can give an example of the Dominican Republic. In 1904, a treaty was concluded with her, placing this country under US control economically and politically.

Development and design of ideas

Countries that tried to resist, waited for intervention from the States. The very idea of "protection" of the neighboring countries developed for some time. It was necessary to prove the superiority of the States over other countries and their right to deal with other people's problems. In his speeches, Roosevelt consistently formulated what constitutes the "big stick of politics" (1904-1905). Latin American countries by this time were in bondage to European corporations. Failure to pay could lead to the arrival of overseas military personnel on the territory of the debtor. This was opposed by the United States. The Roosevelt paradigm consisted in the fact that it is necessary to be the first to enter any country in order to prevent its capture by Europeans. Latin America was declared the sphere of US interests. And they did not intend to let anyone on this territory. That is, for the international community was prepared quite an adequate explanation of what a big stick policy is . Its definition proceeded from all the shared principle of self-interest prevention. Nobody thought about the countries of Latin America and their population.

Practical implementation

The protection of the states by their interests was not limited to declarative statements. In practice, several interventions were implemented. So, in 1903, the US military entered Panama. However, then there was no such state. Under the leadership of American advisors, an uprising was raised in Colombia. Under the pretext of providing assistance, the United States was introduced by troops. As a result, part of the territory was torn away from Colombia, and here a new state arose, Panama. And at that time the best economic asset was in its jurisdiction (the same channel). In 1904, the United States established a political protectorate over the Dominican Republic. And in 1906 they invaded Cuba in order to "raze" the armed conflict that arose there. In fact, any intervention brought profit to American corporations. They used military force to drive their European competitors out of the occupied territories.

Dollar diplomacy

The pressure could not last forever. In 1910, a dollar was added to the big stick. That is, economic expansion into the expanses of neighboring countries was considered more acceptable due to its flexibility. Countries were subordinated to the seizure of their economic resources, carried out on quite legitimate grounds. Corporations bought promising assets, acting under the protection of that same truncheon. In this way, hegemony of the USA in the American continent was affirmed. The pretext for pressure on neighbors was to protect them from aggression from other powers or to protect the interests of American citizens. The recurrences of the big baton happened later. For example, an armed intervention on the small island of Grenada. There, too, the military defended the "rights of Americans."

Conclusion

The idea of a large baton in one form or another appears in American foreign policy up to the present times. But today the hegemon is much more subtle. The US military is trying to secure a UN resolution for the invasion. And before it is received, other political methods are used to pressure the governments of the displeased powers.