Pan-american Dream: Do Latin America's Cultural Values Discourage True Partnership With The United S

"Why are the U.S. and Canada so different from and so VV far ahead of Latin America? Why has it taken so long for Latin America to conclude that democratic capitalism and good relations with the U.S. are in its own best interests? Are the recent efforts of Presidents Bush and Clinton only one more chapter in the dead-end story of frustrated Pan-American dreams that followed JFK's Alliance for Progress and FDR's Good Neighbor Policy?"

These are just some of the questions Lawrence E. Harrison addresses in his provocative new book "The Pan-American Dream." Central to his argument is the existence of fundamental differences between the Anglo-Protestant and Ibero-Catholic traditions in respect to topics such as work ethics, education, sense of community, and nature of authority. The book reexamines historical cultural values from the context of the here and now. Harrison thoroughly explores the possibility of how a free trade zone policy might or might not work-and what can be done to enhance the prospects for forging a dynamic community in the Western Hemisphere.