The pragmatic face of the covert idealist: the role of Allen Dulles in US policy discussions on Latin America, 1953–61

Sewell, Bevan

Abstract

Assessments of the CIA’s role in Latin America during the 1950s have tended to focus predominantly on the twin case-studies of Guatemala and Cuba. Consequently, the Agency’s role – and, more broadly, that of its head Allen Dulles – has come to be seen as one obsessed with covert action and relatively unimportant in terms of policy discussions. Dulles, in fact, has been portrayed as an unwilling and disinterested participant in policy discussions. The present article will challenge those assertions by suggesting that, by examining Dulles’s role in the Eisenhower administration’s discussions on Latin America, a different picture emerges – one that paints Dulles as an active and rational participant, and which raises important questions for our understanding of the CIA’s role during the Eisenhower era.

Citation

Sewell, B. (2011). The pragmatic face of the covert idealist: the role of Allen Dulles in US policy discussions on Latin America, 1953–61. Intelligence and National Security, 26(2-3), https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2011.559319

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 1, 2010
• Publication Date: May 20, 2011
• Deposit Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Journal: Intelligence and National Security
• Print ISSN: 0268-4527
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-9019
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 2-3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2011.559319
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/707488
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02684527.2011.559319
• Additional Information: The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is available in Intelligence and National Security 2011 http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02684527.2011.559319