The Dictator Dilemma ― The United States and Paraguay in the Cold War

In The Dictator's Dilemma, Kirk Tyvela tells the story of US bilateral relations with the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship (1954-1989). He focuses on how and why that diplomatic relationship changed during the Cold War from cooperation, based on mutual opposition to communism, to conflict, based on clashing expectations concerning democratic reforms and human rights. The policy debates by officials in Washington and in Asunción brought out a tension that has defined US diplomacy for more than a century: how can the US partner with friendly tyrants while proclaiming a democratic mission to help other nations liberalize their societies? Tyvela argues that the Stroessner regime was symbolic of a broader foreign policy struggle to perpetuate, enforce, and ultimately redefine the importance of friendly dictators to US global and hemispheric interests during the Cold War.