Maybe that's not much of a news flash, since the man himself died in 1831. But the Monroe Doctrine has been a cornerstone of American policy for most of our history, defining the entire Western Hemisphere as our sphere of influence. It was never 100% effective: France installed an emperor in Mexico in 1864, and Cuba famously joined the Soviet bloc under Fidel Castro a little less than a century later. But on the whole it had a remarkably good run.
No longer. This week, Nicaragua announced an agreement with Russia allowing the latter to import ships and troops from time to time, for purposes of law enforcement, "humanitarian aid, rescue and search missions in emergencies or natural disasters."
Clearly neither Nicaragua nor Russia is concerned that the United States will try to block this agreement in any effective way. Our role as regional (to say nothing of global!) hegemon must no longer look credible to them. In other words, our self-proclaimed sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere is over.
Stay tuned for further developments.
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