This perceptive book critically explores why the United States continues to pursue failed policies in Latin America. Leading scholars explain how policies intended to promote the rule of law instead generate corruption and institutional crisis, why policies seeking to promote democratization and stabilization instead generate populist authoritarianism and destabilization, and why the war on drugs and the war on terror have neither reduced narcotics trafficking nor increased citizen security in the region. Reviewing official policy and its defenders and critics alike, this indispensable book focuses on the reasons for the failure of U.S. policies and their disastrous significance for both Latin America and the United States.