Renata Keller, an associate professor of history in the University of Nevada, Reno’s College of Liberal Arts, recently joined a small group of faculty from around the nation to educate Congressional staff, policymakers and journalists about the history of U.S. military alliances.
Keller, an expert in modern Latin American history, the Cold War in Latin America and inter-American relations, discussed the negative impacts of informal military alliances between the United States and Latin American countries. Her expertise was sought by the American Historical Association (AHA) for the AHA Congressional Briefing Series in Washington, D.C. The briefings provide historical context and help inform decisions at the highest levels.
“In Latin America, while formal military alliances have been effective, they have also been relatively rare. Informal military alliances have been more common, and those have been less effective and more harmful to the region, in part because they have less oversight, they have less consistency, and they haven’t always been conducted with official state actors,” she said.
Keller felt passionate about participating as she believes historians should work to educate broad audiences.
“It is important for historians to take that responsibility seriously, to try and reach the public,” she said. “What we do in the classroom is incredibly important, but there are other audiences too. I was grateful to have the opportunity to reach some different audiences.”
Following her presentation, Keller met with members of Congress, Congressional staff and military fellows to discuss how her research related to defense, national security and other topics. She hopes to continue conversations with this group to ensure that she and other historians can actively participate in discussions about the nation’s future.
“This experience encouraged me to engage as much as possible with the public and with the government because I think a lot of people were interested in what we had to say,” she said.
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Publish date : 2024-10-14 12:44:00
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