The U.S. Policies towards the Northern Triangle Countries as an Example of Regional Approach to Providing Foreign Assistance

The following article attempts to examine the U.S. approach towards relations with the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) as an integral direction of their foreign policy. Providing foreign aid poses as the main object of research, through comparing the principal features of the course pursued by U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joseph Biden administrations in the practices of particular governmental agencies as well as the interaction between the executive branch and the Congress. The topic is especially vital as a result of unprecedented politicization of the Northern Triangle problem in the context of migratory crisis. Succession and innovation is established by looking into the programs of foreign aid and the levers of security policies modernization in its “soft’ and ‘tough” components. It shows that initially the base for building up the framework of U.S. influence was motivated by combating organized crime, narcotics supply reduction and curbing the influx of undocumented migrants. Notwithstanding party affiliation, it remains a priority both for Congress and the White House, although the questions of human rights and institutional development are ranked higher by the Democrats. Prospects of consolidating the much-sought “comprehensive approach” to the sub-region are undertaken, with drawing the borders of the unique space for actions by adopting targeted programs. It is concluded that from the standpoint of development assistance to the Northern Triangle and involving other partners for the achievement of the U.S. goals the methods applied are mostly successful. Meanwhile, trying to fix the structural problems will be inevitably marked by disproportions and suffer setbacks due to the different inner political situation in each country.

Keywords

region, foreign assistance, the United States, Central America, the Northern Triangle, development, security

Acknowledgment

article was prepared with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), the project "Transformation of regional models of International relations in the Western Hemisphere" (No. 20-014-00023/20).

Received

14.05.2021

Publication date

02.08.2021

Number of characters

40132

Cite

GOST	Manukhin A. The U.S. Policies towards the Northern Triangle Countries as an Example of Regional Approach to Providing Foreign Assistance // USA & Canada: ekonomika, politika, kultura – 2021. – Issue 8 C. 19-38 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://usacanada.jes.su/S268667300016032-5-1 (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S268667300016032-5
MLA	Manukhin, Alexey "The U.S. Policies towards the Northern Triangle Countries as an Example of Regional Approach to Providing Foreign Assistance." USA & Canada: ekonomika, politika, kultura 8 (2021):19-38. DOI: 10.31857/S268667300016032-5
APA	Manukhin A. (2021). The U.S. Policies towards the Northern Triangle Countries as an Example of Regional Approach to Providing Foreign Assistance. USA & Canada: ekonomika, politika, kultura (8), pp.19-38 DOI: 10.31857/S268667300016032-5

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ВВЕДЕНИЕ

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ОБЩЕЙ СТРАТЕГИИ США ПО ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОЙ АМЕРИКЕ

КОРРЕКТИРОВКА ПОЛИТИКИ В СЕВЕРНОМ ТРЕУГОЛЬНИКЕ ПРИ АДМИНИСТРАЦИИ Д. ТРАМПА

ОСНОВНЫЕ ЭЛЕМЕНТЫ ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОАМЕРИКАНСКОГОПРОЕКТА ДЖ. БАЙДЕНА

ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЕ


1	ВВЕДЕНИЕ
2	Региональный подход во внешней политике является достаточно сложным объектом для изучения. Одним из ярких примеров служит политика США по отношению к Центральной Америке, в особенности той её части, которая известна как «Северный треугольник» и включает в себя Гватемалу, Гондурас и Сальвадор. Объединяют эти республики не только близкое географическое соседство, но и наличие общих структурных проблем: слабость экономики, высокий уровень преступности, коррупция в государственном аппарате и острое противостояние ветвей власти. Перечисленные факторы в основном провоцируют массовое бегство граждан этих стран в Соединённые Штаты, где уже осели их многочисленные соотечественники. Ситуация с нелегальной миграцией не раз вынуждала Вашингтон предпринимать экстренные меры во внутренней и внешней политике. Администрация Джозефа Байдена (приступила к управлению в январе 2021 г.) неоднократно заявляла о том, что обновление подходов к Северному треугольнику занимает первое место на шкале её приоритетов в Западном полушарии. Именно эти подходы, а также сопоставление масштабов предоставления американской помощи странам субрегиона как единому целому исследуются в данной статье. Также анализируются попытки американского истеблишмента влиять здесь на социально-экономические и политические процессы, которые зачастую воспринимаются как залог эффективности затрат.
3	В работах российских специалистов, посвящённых развитию стран Северного треугольника, их отношения с США рассматриваются главным образом в плане феномена массовой миграции [Кудеярова Н.Ю. 2019]; [Kudeyárova N.Yu. 2019]; [Бернал Альварез М.А. 2020]. Внимание уделяется специфике социально-экономических проблем и особенностям политических режимов субрегиона, а также его коллективному ответу на эти вызовы [Шишков А.С. 2018]; [Манухин А.А. 2019]. Отдельно изучается многостороннее участие в оказании помощи, в частности, в духе концепции «ответственности по защите» [Громогласова Е.С. 2017]. Применительно к внешней помощи Северный треугольник являл собой наглядный пример «жёсткой экономии» в этой сфере со стороны администрации Д. Трампа [Бартенев В.И. 2019: 94–95]. Представляется интересным проследить то, как наследие прошлого отражается на действиях администрации Дж. Байдена.
4	Начиная с классических работ в рамках внешней помощи выделялись мотивы «структурных» изменений и краткосрочных целей, например, поддержка определённых политических сил [Morgenthau H. 1962: 302–303]. Примерно такие же ярко выраженные черты носили мотивы содействия центральноамериканским режимам в период холодной войны [Rivas Pardo P.A. 2016: 96]. Отмечается, что леволиберальные и левоцентристские правительства, как правило, рассматривая внешнюю помощь, делают акцент на её гуманитарных аспектах, в то время как консервативные и правоцентристские деятели видят в ней средство укрепления рыночных механизмов. Соответственно, это определяет склонность к взаимодействию с неправительственными и международными организациями или национальным бизнесом [Greene Z.D., Licht A.A. 2018: 289].

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The U.S. Policies towards the Northern Triangle Countries as an Example of Regional Approach to Providing Foreign Assistance

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