We might call it the Monroe Creed, because, really, it is more an article of faith than a doctrine of international law. “I believe strictly in the Monroe Doctrine, in our Constitution, and in the laws of God,” wrote the founder of Christian Science Mary Baker Eddy in 1905.
And over the years, President James Monroe’s 1823 statement — made in response to Spanish American independence movements and warning Europe that the western hemisphere was off-limits for future conquests — has become sacramental, functioning as a revered sign or a channel through which the everlasting power of the United States becomes manifest. Politicians have repeatedly pronounced the doctrine outdated, defunct or dead. Only to see it, again and again, revived in ever more aggressive form.
Less than 13 years ago, Barack Obama’s secretary of state John Kerry announced that the “era of the Monroe Doctrine is over”. Not for long. The Trump administration has recently affirmed the Doctrine as the framework through which Washington will deal with its neighbours in the western hemisphere and justify its assault on Venezuela.