Description:This is a continuation of the author's first survey of US relations with rightist dictatorships from the 1920s to 1965. As with the previous volume Schmitz provides a good and impartial overview of the ideology and motivations of these relationships. Especially noteworthy is his balanced treatment of Jimmy Carter's human rights policy, and the attempted reversal by Ronald Reagan to the blackest days of reactionary patronage. Ironically, it was the legacy of Jimmy Carter which laid the foundation for the cold war's end, and of the "democratization" policies Reagan actually pursued in his second term that transformed the world.
As for the first reviewer from Iran, I can only wonder what planet he really hails from, and fear for the future of that country's journey to democracy if he represents its movement.