The “Good Neighbor” Policy and a Moment of North–South Dialogue: The Eighth American Scientific Congress of 1940
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25185/19.9Keywords:
Science diplomacy, Pan‑Americanism, Good Neighbor” policyAbstract
This article examines the history of the Eighth American Scientific Congress, held in Washington, D.C., in May 1940. The event brought together diplomats and scientists from the United States and various Latin American countries for several days in the U.S. capital. Through an analysis of this moment of North–South dialogue at the highest diplomatic and scientific levels, the article argues that Latin American elites contributed intellectually to the sciences represented at the Congress, and through them, to both the development of their countries’ relations with the United States and the construction of a pan-American standard initiated in previous decades and projected into the years ahead. Drawing on documents and records of this event preserved by the U.S. government and on the analysis of existing literature, the study shows that pan‑Americanism was not only a vertical instrument of U.S. foreign policy but also a space of interaction in which Latin American scientists played an active role. This case study further demonstrates that the international meeting reflected the hegemonic role exercised by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration in inter‑American relations at the onset of World War II through its “Good Neighbor” policy.
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