This essay deals with the study of Latin American politics in the United States. The basic question asked is: “Where do we go from here if we take seriously that body of thought loosely and somewhat misleadingly known as dependency theory?” It argues that even though the literature is at times incomplete, confusing, and contradictory, the issues to which it directs us warrant our most serious attention.

Within the past few years, the study of Latin American politics has been increasingly influenced by a theoretical perspective that the outcome of World War II temporarily relegated to the “dustbin of history.” This perspective is the corporate one, long associated with the political perversions of Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and a handful of postwar continental regimes such as Spain and Portugal which were considered by most observers to be political backwaters.

It is a well known, oft stated fact that Latin American periodicals, particularly of the nineteenth century, contain a wealth of untapped documentation for the historian and literary critic. This is especially true for Cuba, where a protracted colonial period with years of tight censorship, repression, and revolutionary turmoil made the publication of lengthy works unfulfilled dreams thwarted by “la Señora Censura” or a highly underdeveloped publishing industry. Magazines and newspapers were frequently the only outlets for the expression of ideas on politics, economics, education, philosophy, religion, literature, science, music, and art, or for the publication of creative works in prose and poetry. Consequently, the examination of nineteenth-century Cuban periodicals yields an unusually rich view of the history and culture of the island; indeed, in some periods these publications, frequently ephemeral, offer the only major source of comprehensive information and documentation.

Due to the interest in the Latin American short story generated by writers such as Borges, Cortázar, García Márquez, Fuentes, and many others, there is a need for more information on the development of this genre in Latin America and compilations of the information already available. Good sources of material on both authors and stories are often short story anthologies. There are a number of anthologies that deal with various themes, periods, authors, countries, and stories, and offer teacher, student, or aficionado a kaleidoscopic view of the cuento in Latin America.

Mientras que la población de la Europa Occidental en el proceso de su historia étnica comenzó el paso de las nacionalidades (o sea pueblos) a las naciones, en el lejano e incógnito continente, todavía no descubierto, tuvo lugar un complicado proceso de formación de nacionalidades. Y una de las nacionalidades más numerosas y poderosas que se formaba en el continente era la de los quechuas a los cuales con frecuencia se ha aplicado el término no muy adecuado de “incas.”

La latinoamericanística, una de las más jóvenes ramas de la ciencia soviética, tiene raíces que se remontan hacia un pasado lejano. En Rusia el interés hacia América Latina acrecentó especialmente a principios del siglo XIX. La guerra por la independencia de 1810-1826 inspiró una profunda compasión de la opinión pública rusa progresista. En tiempos prerevolucionarios unas expediciones rusas visitaron los países de América Latina. Pero solamente después de la Gran Revolución Socialista de Octubre, que fue un momento crítico en las relaciones con las estados latinoamericanos, se comenzó el estudio sistemático de los problemas de los países del continente.

As in the case of Mark Twain, the reports of the death of the Organization of American States (OAS) are greatly exaggerated. Certainly it is not operating at peak performance. However, neither is it the moribund institution that the mass media would have us believe—although some recent reports of the General Assembly meeting in Santiago have given us glimmerings of hope for a rebirth. It is the purpose of this report to investigate the status of one of the major aspects of the contemporary OAS reform efforts—the peaceful settlement of disputes within the organization's structure. The indefinite postponement of this particular issue cannot belie the fact—amply demonstrated in the debates of the Special Committee to Study the Inter-American System and Propose Measures for Restructuring It, the Conference of Plenipotentiaries to Amend the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, and the Permanent Council—that the resolution of disputes is of fundamental importance to the nations of the hemisphere and that there is some degree of relative satisfaction over past OAS performance in that area. It would thus be appropriate for students of inter-American relations to take a greater scholarly interest in the OAS than is now the case.

The role of the dissertation as part of academic preparation is generally accepted and unquestioned. The dissertation is intended to initiate students into serious research in their chosen field. However, what happens to the research, once completed, is another question. Apparently very few have addressed this question, and their findings are not consistent. McPhie, in a study of dissertations completed in social studies education, measured the dissemination of dissertations via library circulation. He concluded that: “These data on library circulation, even when viewed with caution, would seem to indicate a rather meager use of some potentially valuable findings.” He also found that nearly two-thirds had not published even one article from their dissertations. In a more recent study of Ph.D. dissertations in sociology, Yoels found a similar picture. He concluded, after analyzing citations to Ph.D. dissertations in the two most frequently cited journals in sociology, that “the likelihood that dissertations will be widely disseminated appears to be slim.” However, in a recent and more complete study, Hanson found that dissertations are more widely used than is indicated in the above studies. He concludes that: “When one broadens the definition of dissemination to include the media of books, monographs, chapters, presented papers, journal articles (including those not appearing in the two major journals), research bulletins, and miscellaneous forms during the professional life of the Ph.D. sociologist, a picture of more extensive transmission of dissertation results emerge. A conservative estimate would be that findings from a substantial majority of dissertations are disseminated through various media at some point in time.”