This book reconsiders the so-called Western Hemisphere idea, showing that it can be conceived as an illuminating and flexible conceptual framework through which we can gain new and enriching insights into the history and politics of US-Latin American relations.

International law has played a crucial role in the construction of imperial projects. Yet within the growing field of studies about the history of international law and empire, scholars have seldom considered this complicit relationship in the Americas. The Hidden History of International Law in the Americas offers the first exploration of the deployment of international law for the legitimization of U.S. ascendancy as an informal empire in Latin America. This book explores the intellectual history of a distinctive idea of American international law in the Americas, focusing...