Table of Contents:
  • Part I. U.S.-Venezuela relations and IR theory
  • Part II. Neorealism, soft balancing, and mid-level security threats: Venezuela's new foreign policy through the prism of neorealism; U.S. responses
  • Part III. Beyond neorealism: economics, ideas, and institutions: oil's double role and the concept of friends/enemies; the "talk softly, sanction softly" policy
  • Part IV. Regime type and other domestic sources of foreign policy: regime type and Venezuela: president and soldiers; regime type and US policy toward Venezuela: president and Congress
  • Part V. Overreaching and outreaching: from ALBA to Damascus: tiny allies, big pariahs and identity construction; conclusion: friends-enemies, for now.