Dominican Republic Case Study

The Dominican Republic as of 1916 had been a victim of enormous political instability that allowed over the creation a stationary political process. The lack of stable political parties to form control and legitimacy in the country was nowhere to be found. The constant back and forth political changes had only increased their external debt to Europe .The probability of European intervention, retaliation against the Dominican Republic only increased as instability had become a trend, and the debt seemed more and more unpayable. The pressure the Dominican Republic faced became troublesome for the United States because of their influence on the region. European intervention in the unipolar western hemisphere presented potential business losses
The continuingly growing debt caused uncertainty for the United States because of the control in the region. However, in 1905 President Ramon Caceres agreed to cease custom houses to “ the United States took control of 55 % of the Dominican Republic’s custom houses to pay off debts. ( Fearon ,Laitin , 2006).For the Dominican Republic, the deal seemed positive because it decresed their foreign debt, while not surrendering their full autonomy. Simultaneously, for the United States the deal meant control of the Dominican Republic and its debt to Europe. Therefore, it eliminated any potential power challenges in the US desired western hemisphere. Progress seemed eminent for both sides, until instability rose up and a coup raised arms against President Caceres in 1911. The United States business interest in the country, plus the newly negotiated governments deals seemed in jeopardy. The lack of formal institutional structure fit to operate a country was made evident with the rise of guerilla armies. The dissatisfaction found in Dominican society had reached its peak. As a result of the presence of Dominican Guerrillas, President Woodrow Wilson issued an ultimatum to the Dominican Republic which stated to elect a president or have the United States will impose one “ ( global security). The ultimatum brought upon elections where Juan Isidro Jimenez was elected as president in December 1914. The newly appointed president Jimenez failed to bring the US desired institutional changes to the Dominican Republic and was ultimately overthrown by the US government. Evidently, the constant shift in governments brought the United States’s attention to the growing political conflict. In an attempt to suppress violence and establish stable friendly democracy, Woodrow Wilson ordered for an invasion of the country in 1916 subsequently followed by martial