The Dictator Dilemmatells the story of US bilateral relations with the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship (1954–1989). Tyvela focuses on how and why that diplomatic relationship changed during the Cold War from cooperation, based on mutual opposition to communism, to conflict, based on clashing expectations concerning democratic reforms and human rights. The policy debates by officials in Washington and in Asunción brought out a tension that has defined US diplomacy for more than a century: how can the United States partner with tyrants while credibly proclaiming to advance a democratic mission in the world? Tyvela argues that the Stroessner regime was symbolic of a broader foreign policy struggle to perpetuate, enforce, and ultimately redefine the importance of friendly dictators to US global and hemispheric interests.
 

Kirk Tyvela is an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County.
 

“Kirk Tyvela’s important new work puts into perspective how not only Stroessner consolidated his power locally by limiting dissent within his own political party (the Colorados) but also, more importantly for Tyvela, his regime was able to maintain stability and control by securing economic aid in the form of grants and loans from a compliant US government. . . . faced. This method of placing Paraguay within—and not apart from—a global context means that this text will have a readership beyond those interested solely in Paraguay, including those interested in understanding the history of the Cold War more broadly.” —Hispanic American Historical Review
 

“Kirk Tyvela’s important new work puts into perspective how not only Stroessner consolidated his power locally by limiting dissent within his own political party (the Colorados) but also, more importantly for Tyvela, his regime was able to maintain stability and control by securing economic aid in the form of grants and loans from a compliant US government.” —Hispanic American Historical Review