Thursdays 10-12 Noon
January 15 through March 4, 2004
D.O.C. House
While the terminology may be new, the concept of “regime change” as a means of dealing with unfriendly or inconvenient governments has long been a tool of United States foreign policy. This study group will review the experience and analyze costs/benefits of such externally induced or assisted downfalls as those of Mossadegh in Iran, Najibullah in Afghanistan, Arbenz in Guatemala, Bosch in the Dominican Republic, Jagan in Guyana, Allende in Chile, Ortega in Nicaragua, and also one downfall that has yet to result from a variety of such efforts, that of Castro in Cuba. Between the group leader and guest group leaders, every session will be led by a person with first hand experience of the country and the issues involved.
All participants will be expected to read 20 or so pages of materials on each of the eight selected “regime changes.” For those who wish to prepare in greater depth, additional optional readings will be suggested. For some of the selected “regime changes.” Also class member with special interest may be invited to invest several hours in research and other preparations as a member of the presentation team.
Class is limited to 20 members.
Arthur Mudge, a graduate from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, has divided his career about equally between New Hampshire law practice and USAID foreign service, combining the two over the past 18 years as an international development consultant working mostly in rule of law. In addition to war service in Korea, he lived and worked for 13 years abroad as USAID lawyer and mission director in Latin America and Africa, with subsequent consultant experience in those regions and in countries of the former Soviet Union. His foreign service took him to most of the subject “regime change” countries including Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Chile, Nicaragua and Cuba. During 1979-80 he was a diplomat fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs, where he researched, wrote and lectured on U.S. response to Latin American revolutionary movements. He has also lectured at Dartmouth, Oberlin and Wellesley, as well as having led an ILEAD study group on “Selling War.”
