The Continued Importance of the Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine, announced in his presidential speech in 1823 by President Monroe, would become one of the most important pieces of legislation governing American foreign policy of the 19th and 20th century. Drafted by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the doctrine secured American interest in the Western hemisphere. Responding to the threats of the French and Russian empires to the Latin American region, the United States publicly stated the freedom and independence of the Latin American continent in order to prevent any European interference in the region. Latin America would become a sphere of interest to the United States, which was solely supposed to interfere in the region if it be on grounds on promoting stability of the region.
The Monroe Doctrine is of such continued historical importance because continued to be applied until today and has shaped American foreign policy significantly over the course of several events. Examples of 20th century applications of the doctrine would be Eisenhower overthrowing Guatemala's liberal reformist president Arbenz in 1954, and replacing him with a dictator. The establishment of Soviet control in Cuba could be seen as a failure of the Monroe Doctrine, since President Kennedy failed to maintain US control over Cuba. Other applications of the Monroe Doctrine have involved several US efforts to overthrow dictators and regimes in Latin and South America and replacing them by heads of governments more so inclined towards the US.