Date of Award
Winter 12-12-2025
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Political Science and International Affairs
Department Chair or Program Director
Cooperman, Rosalyn
First Advisor
Bowen, Dawn
Second Advisor
Martinez, Melissa
Major or Concentration
International Affairs
Abstract
The U.S. continuously intervened in Guatemalan domestic politics from 1954 to 1999 without achieving its stated goals of stability, democratization, or development. Although the threat of communism offered an initial justification for U.S. involvement, traditional geopolitical explanations failed to adequately account for the persistence of intervention.
Through the lens of constructivism, this research examines these interventions, with special attention paid to political, economic, and humanitarian factors. It focuses on the American identity as democratic, capitalist, and later, a protector of human rights, and how the need to protect and exhibit that identity motivated the U.S. to intervene. These identities and their impact are analyzed through the 1954 CIA-backed coup of the Arbenz administration, the Alliance for Progress, counterinsurgency partnerships during the 36-year-long civil war, and the Washington Consensus reforms. This study finds that although the U.S. often professed goals of aiding Guatemala, its actions largely perpetuated harm. Ultimately, interventions served more to protect U.S. identity and global self-image than to address Guatemalan conditions or needs.
Recommended Citation
Sinor, Savannah L., "The Cost of Conviction: A Constructivist Analysis of U.S. Interventions in Guatemala, 1954-1999" (2025). Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects. 674.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/674