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Sandinista Nicaragua’s Resistance to US Coercion
How was the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) of Nicaragua
able to resist the Reagan Administration’s coercive efforts to rollback
its revolution? Héctor Perla challenges conventional understandings of
this confl ict by tracing the process through which Nicaraguans, both at
home and in the diaspora, defeated U.S. aggression in a highly unequal
confrontation. He argues that beyond traditional diplomatic, military,
and domestic state policies, a crucial element of the FSLN’s defensive
strategy was the mobilization of a transnational social movement to
build public opposition to Reagan’s policy within the United States,
thus preventing further escalation of the confl ict. Using a contentious
politics approach the author reveals how the extant scholarly assump-
tions of international relations theory have obscured some of the most
consequential dynamics of the case. This is a fascinating study illustrat-
ing how supposedly powerless actors were able to constrain the poli-
cies of the most powerful nation on earth.
Héctor Perla is a Senior Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric
Affairs (COHA) and holds an appointment as a Steiger Visiting Scholar
through the American Political Science Association’s Congressional
Fellowship Program
Sandinista Nicaragua’s Resistance to
US Coercion
Revolutionary Deterrence in
Asymmetric Confl ict
HÉCTOR PERLA JR.
Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)
32 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY 10013
Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.
It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: w ww.cambridge.org/9781107113893
© Héctor Perla Jr. 2016
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2016
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc.
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Names: Perla, Héctor, Jr., author.
Title: Sandinista Nicaragua’s resistance to US coercion : revolutionary deterrence in
asymmetric confl ict / Héctor Perla Jr., Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA).
Description: New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, [2016] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016023215 | isbn 9781107113893 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Nicaragua – Politics and government – 1979–1990. |
Nicaragua – Foreign relations – United States. | Counterrevolutionaries – Nicaragua –
History – 20th century. | United States – Foreign relations – Nicaragua. |
Deterrence (Strategy) – Case studies. | Asymmetric warfare – Case studies. |
Solidarity – Nicaragua– History – 20th century. | Peace movements – United States –
History – 20th century. | Volunteers – Nicaragua – History – 20th century. | United States –
Politics and government – 1945–1989.
Classifi cation: LCC F1528.P48 2016 | DDC 972.8505/3–dc23
LC record available at h ttps://lccn.loc.gov/2016023215
ISBN 978-1-107-11389-3 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URL s
for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not
guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
List of Figures page vi
List of Tables vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
1 History of U.S.–Nicaragua Relations 18
2 International Relations Theory, Asymmetric Conflicts, and
Contentious Politics 40
3 Revolutionary Deterrence 75
4 Challenging Reagan 92
5 Media Framing and Opposition to the Use of Force in
U.S. Foreign Policy 122
6 Activating Public Opinion 155
7 Stopping Rollback: Evidence of Revolutionary Deterrence on
Congressional Opposition, Reagan, and Reagan Administration
Decision Making 181
Conclusion: Scope Conditions and Implications of Revolutionary
Deterrence 209
Epilogue: Postrevolutionary Developments 221
Index 227
v
Figures
6.1 Cross-tabulations of letter’s issue position and letter type page 166
6.2 Cross-tabulations of letter’s issue position and reference cue 169
6.3 Cross-tabulations of letter’s issue position and letter frame 170
vi
Tables
5.1 Regression Models Measuring the Impact of Media Framing
on Public Support for the use of Force Abroad page 149
7.1 Number of Congressional Hearings on Rollback Countries
(1981–1990) 188
7.2 Number of CAPSM Organizations in the District of Democrats
Supporting Contra Aid 200
7.3 Number of CAPSM Organizations in the District of
Republicans Opposing Contra Aid 201
vii
