Abstract
The objective of this thesis critically examines the Cold War framework offered by the leading scholar of the conflict, John Lewis Gaddis. His analysis is narrowed down to three maxims, or principles, that are then subjected to a case study: the 1973 overthrow of democracy in Chile, the subsequent American backing of military rule, and the resulting Assassination on Embassy Row that took the lives of two people, including an American citizen. A large body of documents is available in the Chile (and Argentina) collection at the United States Department of State, FOL4 Electronic Reading Room. Documents from the FBI, CIA, and other government agencies, are all part of this collection and thus available through this site. All cited are in the author's possession. The National Security Archive (Washington, DC: George Washington University) is also a major repository of documentation on the United States and Chile. The Gaddis School of historical interpretation is not adequate to explain or account for US. policies in Chile, and thus fails this case study. The US. worked closely with a dictatorship to maintain common interests, not to counter a Soviet threat. American policies helped set in motion a series of events that culminated in the Assassination on Embassy Row. The Gaddis School, however, due to its interpretative framework does not take this into account.