Many standard practices of US foreign policy around the globe today were forged in Latin America before the United States became a global superpower. It was in Latin America that the United States first trained sovereign military forces, used development as a counterinsurgency technique, experimented with cultural diplomacy, led in the creation of an international governmental organization, and signed a regional security pact. But Latin America was not a sterile laboratory for the unilateral development of US foreign policy. Rather, policymakers crafted these various strategies for advancing US interests in response to Latin American engagements with US power and changing political circumstances.