An online ‘Americas Masterclass’, delivered by a Lancaster University senior lecturer, provided insights for government officials on how to approach the challenges Britain faces in Latin America today.

Deputy Director of Lancaster University’s Centre for War and Diplomacy, Dr Thomas Mills recently delivered the masterclass to members of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), as well as a wider audience of government officials.

Senior Lecturer in Diplomatic and International History Dr Mills presented alongside Dr Rory Miller, a former Reader in International Business History at the University of Liverpool, on their recent book, ‘Britain and the Growth of US Hegemony in Twentieth-Century Latin America’,published by Palgrave-Macmillan in 2020.

The book brings together leading scholars, alongside emerging researchers, to provide a collection of essays on Britain’s role in Latin America in a period when the region was dominated by the influence of the United States.

In their presentation, Dr Mills and Dr Miller conveyed the major themes of the book concerning Britain’s ongoing economic interests in Latin America and the ways in which British diplomacy had responded and adapted to the country’s declining influence in the region alongside the growing dominance of the USA.

The Americas Masterclass is part of a programme of learning and development events organised by the Americas Research Group in the FCDO to both inform and challenge policy colleagues on contemporary Latin American issues.

The audience for the event included the Head of the Latin America Department in the FCDO, as well as officials serving in diplomatic posts including Mexico, Venezuela, Grenada and Jamaica.

Dr Mills’ participation in this event builds on his previous work on contemporary British foreign policy towards Latin America undertaken in his role as an Associate Fellow of Canning House, the UK’s leading think-tank on Latin America, and a report he co-authored with for the British Foreign Policy Group on UK-Latin America engagement in the post-Brexit era.