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[[File:Monroe doctrine.jpg|thumb|300px|A 1912 newspaper cartoon highlighting America's influence in protecting neighboring countries in its "backyard" from European colonial expansion in the century following the [[Monroe Doctrine]].]] ▼
== US's Backyard ==▼
▲[[File:Monroe doctrine.jpg|thumb|300px|A 1912 newspaper cartoon highlighting America's influence in protecting neighboring countries in its "backyard" from European colonial expansion in the century following the [[Monroe Doctrine]].]]
{{AmericanEmpire}}
 
'''USAmerica's backyard''' is a [[concept]] often used in [[political science]] and [[international relations]] contexts to refer to the [[sphere of influence]] of the [[United States]], the USA's traditional areas of dominance, especially [[Latin America]].
 
SomewhatIt is somewhat analogous to the [[Russia]]n concept of [[near abroad]] ({{lang-ru|italic=yes|ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye}}), America'swhich backyard is usedreferred to referCentral toAsian thestates US'sduring traditionalSoviet areasera of dominance, especially [[Latin America]]rule.
 
The term has recently been prominent in popular media with reference to threats to US [[national security]] (including Russian [[military exercises]] and Middle Eastern [[terrorism]]) used to contrast such threats at home with those on traditional fronts in [[Europe]] or the [[Middle East]].
America's Backyard is also used on occasion to refer to [[national parks]] and public lands in the US, as well as the American heartland more generally.▼
 
▲In a less geopolitical context, America's Backyard is also used on occasion to refer to [[national parks]] and public lands in the US, as well as the [[Heartland (United States)|American heartland]] more generally.
== "Backyard" versus "near abroad" ==▼
 
== Terminology ==
 
▲=== "Backyard" versus "near abroad" ===
Drawing on the use of the term [[wikt:backyard|backyard]] to refer to the surrounding area or [[neighborhood]] in which one resides, "America's backyard" has been referred to as the area within which the United States, as the "homeowner", has asserted some proprietary right or sought to limit outside influence.<ref>{{Cite journal
| doi = 10.1080/09592290008406150
| volume = 11 | issue = 1 | pages = 291–298 | last = Jones | first = Matthew | title = America's backyard | journal = Diplomacy & Statecraft | year = 2017| s2cid = 162189149 }}</ref> Conversely, "America's Backyard" is referred to the area within which actions by enemy or competing powers might be feared or seen as provocative.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLH39192920080917 |title= The Russian bear in America's backyard: Bernd Debusmann |accessdate=2010-02-28 |author=Bernd Debusmann |date=2008-09-17 |publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> This has much in common with the Russian [[near abroad]], used primarily in reference to the former Soviet Bloc countries; "near Abroad" signified that "Russia [claimed] rights in the region that transcend traditional diplomatic conventions".<ref name=nyt>{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EED81E39F931A15756C0A962958260 |title= ON LANGUAGE; The Near Abroad |accessdate=2008-04-18 |author=[[William Safire]] |author-link=William Safire |date=1994-05-22 |publisherwork=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
 
There are differences between the terms, in that "near abroad" for Russia referred to countries which had previously been in political union with [[Russia]] until the fall of the [[Soviet Union]] (and after independence were initially part of the closely tied [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]), whereas the Central and South American countries considered part of America's backyard have never been politically tied to the United States (with the exception of [[Panama]]). In addition, "America's backyard" has been used in a domestic context to refer to [[national parks]] and other open land, whereas "near abroad" refers solely to foreign (though proximate) areas and cannot be used in a [[public land]] context.
 
=== CentralOther anduses Southof Americathe term ===
There are other uses regarding public land and homeland security.
The term "America's Backyard" started in reference to Central and South America. "America's Backyard" is about the United States' traditional area of dominance and major sphere of influence, which was Central and South America for a long time.▼
 
''[[National Geographic Channel|National Geographic]]'' also uses the term 'America's Backyard' referring to the public lands of America. For instance, national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, urban parks, and urban gardens—US public lands. Included in this mix are greenways and river ways, as well as historic landmarks and landscapes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/lands.html |title= Public Lands--America's Backyard |accessdate=2010-04-03 |date=1996–2010 |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]| archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100405225439/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/lands.html| archivedatearchive-date= 5 April 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurlurl-status= nodead|access-date=2010-04-03}}</ref> Public lands or 'America's Backyard' make up approximately one third of the United States.▼
 
The idea of America's backyard - a place of security and tranquility, unlike lines of conflict elsewhere - has been used in reference to [[Middle class#Middle America|middle America]]. For example, after the [[Oklahoma City]] bombing]], Americans were outspoken with their shock that this attack took place in a "Middle-American" town rather than one of America's well-known political or economical cities or abroad.<ref>{{Cite journal| page = 10 | last = Johnson | first = David | year=1995|title = Intensive International Hunt Is On, But for Whom | journal = New York Times | year page= 199510}}</ref> Many expressed surprise that such [[terrorism]] could happen in the very center of the United States, "deep in America's heartland."<ref>{{Cite journal| page = 55 | last = Alter | first = Jonathan | year=1995|title = Jumping to Conclusions | journal = Newsweek | year page= 199555}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://deflem.blogspot.com/1995/05/globalization-of-heartland-terror.html |title= The Globalization Of Heartland Terror: International Dimensions Of The Oklahoma City Bombing. |accessdate=2010-02-27 |author=Deflem Mathieu |date=June 1995 |publisher=[[Deflem Mathieu]]|accessdate=2010-02-27}}</ref> Furthermore, "America's Backyard" has appeared interchangeably with "heartland" in the writings of a variety of journalists, authors, war veterans and bloggers.▼
 
▲== USHistory of USA's Backyard ==
▲The term "America's Backyard" startedoriginally in referencereferred to Central and South America. "America's Backyard" is about the United States' traditional area of dominance and major [[sphere of influence]], which was Central and South America for a long time.
 
=== The Monroe Doctrine ===
{{Main|Monroe Doctrine}}
During the early 19th century, many [[Spanish colonies]] in Latin America were trying to take advantage of the failing Spanish empire and were trying to gain their independence from Spain. However, during the early 1820s, Spain was on the verge of restoration.<ref name="monroe">{{cite web |url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h255.html |title= Monroe Doctrine |accessdate=2008-04-15 |year=2010 |publisher=Online Highway|accessdate=2008-04-15}}</ref> The United States and Great Britain did not want Spain to gain any power back in Latin America because they wanted those colonies to become independent. [[Simon Bolivar]] was a leader in the fight for independence. He greatly admired the USA and in turn was supported by the USA {{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}. With those colonies independent, they could trade in a mutually beneficial way with the United States and Great Britain and not be restricted by [[Mercantilism|mercantilistic]] Spain which wanted to benefit its home economy at the expense of the South Americans. In light of all of this, President [[James Monroe]] proposed the [[Monroe Doctrine]] on December 2, 1823. The Doctrine stated that any further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the United States of America as acts of aggression requiring US intervention and asserted that the Western Hemisphere was not to be further colonized by European countries, and that the United States would not interfere with existing European colonies nor in the internal concerns of European countries. Since the United States at the time was not known as a powerful country, the Doctrine was not internationally taken seriously, however, since Great Britain agreed with it no countries challenged it.
 
The term "America's backyard" was then coined during this time as a reference to Latin America. The United States supported the Spanish colonies' independence because they wanted to keep Spain and other European countries to be out of the Western Hemisphere, or in other words, out of "America's Backyard".▼
 
This manifested itself in the [[Louisiana Purchase]] (from France), [[Alaska Purchase]] (from Russia), [[War of 1812|1812 War]] (against Britain), [[Spanish–American War]], the [[Big Stick ideology]], etc.
▲The term "America's backyard" was then coined during this time as a reference to Latin America. The United States supported the Spanish colonies' independence because they wanted Spain and other European countries to be out of the Western Hemisphere, or in other words, out of "America's Backyard".
 
=== Latin America as America's backyard ===
{{Main|Big Stick Policy}}
Since the establishment of the United States, [[international relations]] have been of political concern in securing the nation’s developed democracy and influential power. With Latin America in near proximity to the US, the neighboring continent has been labeled as “America’s Backyard.” In attempts to further economic development, the US government has exercised many strategies towards Latin America, especially over the past half century, including the [[Alliance for Progress]].▼
[[File:Tr-bigstick-cartoon.JPG|thumb|[[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s Big Stick policy and bully pulpit tactics, asserting American dominance over the Caribbean region]]
▲Since the establishment of the United States, [[international relations]] have been ofpolitically political concernimportant in securing the nation’s developed democracy and influential power. With Latin America in nearclosest proximity to the US, the neighboring continent has been labeled as “America’s Backyard.” In attempts to further economic development, the US government has exercised many strategies towards Latin America, especially over the past half century, including the [[Alliance for Progress]].
 
The examination and analysis of relations between Latin America and the US over the course of history has increased in recent years. The declassification of official documents concerning Latin America by the Clinton administration allowed for more public information on the matter. In result, the public has been increasingly exposed to a much larger array of perspective and information on America’s backyard and the United States’ role in Latin America.
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Though Latin America is not the poorest area in the world, it is the most unequal; historically a small elite has controlled most of the wealth. The US has traditionally dealt with that elite, however repressive or reactionary it has been, because they controlled the government and market economy. The masses of poor often were illiterate, non-Spanish speaking, and living on a subsistence economy. These later facts help explain the Latin America’s uneven development. Livingstone expresses that even though in the US and Europe revolutionary upheaval or war has at times been the necessary precursor to change, the US government has acted as a counterweight to reform, regarding upheaval, mass protest (and of course revolution) as a threat to stability and therefore its own interests.<ref name="livingstone" />
 
However the US' traditional role as the sole hegemonic power of the Americas has been challenged / limited by [[Cuba]] during the Cold War ([[Cuban Missile Crisis]], Fidel Castro); as well as the more recent Venezuela crisis.
== "Backyard" beyond Latin America ==
 
=== The Middle East as a new American backyard ===
 
A number of European commentators have contended that US foreign policy in the Middle East has (intentionally or otherwise) had the effect of turning the Middle East into America's new "backyard": a new epicenter within which the US is trying to exhort influence on political developments through regime change and political pressure which resembles past US actions in Latin America.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://mondediplo.com/2007/11/03mideast| title = The United States’States' new backyard |accessdate=2010-02-28| author = Alain Gresh|date=2007-11-03
| publisher= [[Le Monde Diplomatique]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.3917/crii.044.0165
| issn = 1777-554X | volume = 44 | issue = 3| pages = 165165–168| last = Peretz| first = Pauline
| title = Philippe Droz-Vincent Vertiges de la puissance : le " moment américain " au Moyen-Orient Paris, La Découverte, 2007, 370 pages.| journal = Critique internationaleInternationale| year = 2009| doi-access = free}}</ref>
 
[[Martin Jacques]] refers to the Middle East as being under the US 'sphere of influence'. However this is being challenged by the presence and growth of [[Iran]], Russia, and [[China]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=When china rules the world : the end of the western world and the birth of a new global order|last=Jacques, Martin.|date=2014|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9781101151457|oclc=883334381}}</ref> Moreover, the US efforts to expand influence into the Middle East, especially with the [[Syrian Civil War]], [[Iraq War]], and [[Afghanistan War (2001-)|Afghanistan War]], have been failing, with 'disastrous' results.<ref name=":1" />
===Other nations' backyards===▼
 
▲===Other nations' backyards===
Both "[[wikt:backyard|backyard]]" and "[[near abroad]]" are increasingly used to refer to the immediate spheres of influence of other major powers, such as China and India.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15393705 |title= China in Central Asia: Riches in the near abroad |accessdate=2010-02-28 |author=Almaty |date=2010-01-28 |publisher=[[The Economist]]| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100211051428/http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15393705| archivedate= 11 February 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GH24Df05.html |title= China's foot in India's door|accessdate=2010-02-28 |author=Tarique Niazi |date=2005-08-22 |publisher=[[Asia Times]]}}</ref>▼
 
▲Both "[[wikt:backyard|backyard]]" and "[[near abroad]]" are increasingly used to refer to the immediate spheres of influence of other major powers, such as [[China]] and [[India]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15393705 |title= China in Central Asia: Riches in the near abroad |accessdateaccess-date=2010-02-28 |author=Almaty |date=2010-01-28 |publisher=[[The Economist]]| archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100211051428/http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15393705| archivedatearchive-date= 11 February 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GH24Df05.html |title= China's foot in India's door|accessdate=2010-02-28 |authorstatus=Tarique Niazi |date=2005-08-22 |publisher=[[Asia Times]]live}}</ref>
== Other related uses ==
===Public lands===
▲''[[National Geographic Channel|National Geographic]]'' also uses the term 'America's Backyard' referring to the public lands of America. For instance, national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, urban parks, and urban gardens—US public lands. Included in this mix are greenways and river ways, as well as historic landmarks and landscapes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/lands.html |title= Public Lands--America's Backyard |accessdate=2010-04-03 |date=1996–2010 |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100405225439/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/lands.html| archivedate= 5 April 2010 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> Public lands or 'America's Backyard' make up approximately one third of the United States.
 
=== Threats to the heartlandChina ===
China's backyard has traditionally been [[Southeast Asia]], but recently is beginning to expand into Russia's old near abroad Central Asia and even parts of South Asia with infrastructure projects in places like Kazakhstan, Iran, and Pakistan. There were times when Central Asia was also under the Chinese sphere of influence, especially during the [[Han dynasty]] ([[Protectorate of the Western Regions]], [[Han-Dayuan war]]) and [[Tang dynasty]] ([[Anxi Protectorate]]).<ref name=":0" />
▲The idea of America's backyard - a place of security and tranquility, unlike lines of conflict elsewhere - has been used in reference to [[Middle class#Middle America|middle America]]. For example, after the [[Oklahoma City]] bombing, Americans were outspoken with their shock that this attack took place in a "Middle-American" town rather than one of America's well-known political or economical cities or abroad.<ref>{{Cite journal| page = 10 | last = Johnson | first = David | title = Intensive International Hunt Is On, But for Whom | journal = New York Times | year = 1995}}</ref> Many expressed surprise that such [[terrorism]] could happen in the very center of the United States, "deep in America's heartland."<ref>{{Cite journal| page = 55 | last = Alter | first = Jonathan | title = Jumping to Conclusions | journal = Newsweek | year = 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://deflem.blogspot.com/1995/05/globalization-of-heartland-terror.html |title= The Globalization Of Heartland Terror: International Dimensions Of The Oklahoma City Bombing. |accessdate=2010-02-27 |author=Deflem Mathieu |date=June 1995 |publisher=[[Deflem Mathieu]]}}</ref> Furthermore, "America's Backyard" has appeared interchangeably with "heartland" in the writings of a variety of journalists, authors, war veterans and bloggers.
 
=== France ===
France maintains a relationship with its former African colonies that are considered to be the nation's pré carré (backyard). This is part of the ideology popularly known as [[Francafrique]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Noubel|first=Filip|date=5 February 2020|title='Françafrique': A term for a contested reality in Franco-African relations|url=https://globalvoices.org/2020/02/05/francafrique-a-term-for-a-contested-reality-in-franco-african-relations/|access-date=27 August 2021|website=Global Voices|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Fröhlich|first=Silja|title=Africa and France: An unfulfilled dream of independence?|date=3 August 2020|url=https://www.dw.com/en/africa-and-france-an-unfulfilled-dream-of-independence/a-54418511|access-date=27 August 2021|work=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB}}</ref>
 
== See also ==
*[[Sphere of Influence]]
*[[Monroe Doctrine]]
*[[Good Neighbor Policy]]▼
*[[Roosevelt Corollary]]
*[[Banana Wars]]
▲*[[Good Neighbor Policy]]
*[[Operation Condor]]
*[[Dollar Diplomacy]]
*[[Near abroad]]
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== References ==
{{Reflist}}
 
== External links ==
* {{cite web |url=https://blogs.publico.es/dominiopublico/26389/america-latina-sigue-siendo-el-patio-trasero-de-estados-unidos/ |title=¿América Latina sigue siendo el "patio trasero" de Estados Unidos? |last=Main |first=Alexander |date=September 16, 2018 |work=Público |publisher= |location= |language=Spanish }}
* [https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Videos/videoid/850912/dvpcc/false/?dvpsearch=army%2525252#DVIDSVideoPlayer581 Army Gen. Laura J. Richardson, U.S. Southern Command commander, discusses Latin America with David Ignatius, columnist and associate editor of The Washington Post, during the Aspen Security Conference.]
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:America's Backyard}}
[[Category:Foreign relations of the United States]]
[[Category:United States–South American relations| ]]
[[Category:United States–Caribbean relations]]
[[Category:Geopolitical rivalry]]
[[Category:Imperialism]]
[[Category:Hegemony]]
[[Category:History of the foreign relations of the United States]]
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