The Nuclear Penetration of the Monroe Doctrine.

This paper analyzes Russia's recent efforts to provide Venezuela with a nuclear reactor and its implications for U.S. security policy. The Russo-Venezuelan nuclear program's intent was declared and signed into effect in November 2008, the first working group session took place in 2009, and it all culminated in the most recent agreement on October 15, 2010 to officially go ahead and start building a nuclear reactor in Venezuela. This is significant since it will be the first Russian nuclear reactor built in Latin America. It, most likely, is a harbinger and many more Russian nuclear reactors will be coming to not only Venezuela but to all of Latin America. This paper argues that future Latin American purchases of Russian nuclear reactors may seriously undermine the principle of the Monroe Doctrine, particularly since the customers will most likely have to rely on Russia for future enriched-uranium, expertise, and maintenance (usually, all are incorporated into a nuclear energy contract). Moreover, with the nuclear energy deal Russia has made recently many economic and military agreements with Venezuela worth billions of dollars. The benefits of a nuclear energy agreement can go well beyond the contract itself, particularly given the great value of nuclear energy and the very select number of suppliers. Nuclear energy deals, thus, can improve a country's chances at the very least of winning in many other competitive economic situations. In the end, with Latin America's ongoing rapid economic development and growing need for energy resources, a heavy reliance on Russian nuclear reactors could represent a major change in Latin American politics and, likely, a serious decline in American power in the region. It also may lead to the possibility that the enriched uranium may go from nuclear energy to nuclear weapons at anytime in the future and, thereby, fundamentally altering the balance of power in the hemisphere. Overall, this paper contends that the U.S. must do much better in defining the Monroe Doctrine and, then, competing more effectively with other countries seeking to penetrate the region through nuclear energy deals and other major agreements. The paper concludes with recommendations on how the U.S. can respond to this recent nuclear reactor deal and the potential effects on the Monroe Doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]