Analyzes the actual implementation of containment in the Third World during the Cold War. Focuses on a number of events in Africa and Latin America that flared into international crises. Examines the motivations of U.S. policy, the role of covert operations and the importance of the domestic debates in the United States that they engendered. Assesses the costs and benefits of U.S. policy for Americans, Africans and Latins. Stresses the need to understand these crises from multiple perspectives–-not simply those of the relevant governments and international organizations, but also of nonstate actors such as communist parties, guerrilla fighters and independence movements including the African National Congress of Nelson Mandela. This course is based on the professor's research in the United States, Latin America (including the closed Cuban archives) and Africa. (This is a cross-listed course offered by the American Foreign Policy Program that also can fulfill a requirement of the Latin American Studies Program.)