Join us by Zoom as the great Christopher Neal speaks on his much-lauded most recent book, “The Rebel Scribe: Carleton Beals and the Progressive Challenge to U.S. Policy in Latin America”.

At once biography and analytical history, The Rebel Scribe tells the story of Carlton Beals, one of the US’s most distinctive foreign correspondents, spending the bulk of his career covering especially on Mexico, Cuba and Central America. It probes Beals’s interactions with political leaders, democrats, demagogues, populists and revolutionaries, and reveals how his ability to immerse himself in their societies gave his accounts a palpable authenticity and, time has shown, a prescience that is almost prophetic. Christopher Neal’s layered narrative traces how Beals identified patterns of political behavior and concepts that later became fully-fledged schools of thought, such as the idea of a Third World, dependency theory, U.S. neo-imperialism, and aspects of critical theory. His story sheds light on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy and intervention, from Mexico and Nicaragua in the 1920s, to Cuba and Vietnam in the 1960s. It reveals the fraught trail that faced—and still faces—contrarian journalists who challenge conventional assumptions, while also showing how probing journalism drives change.

We will also discuss some of the origins and current events of CIC-Montreal. Great things are happening at CIC branches across Canada, and we will take some time to highlight some of the recent victories in Montreal – and in so doing illustrate just one of the amazing personalities you get to interact with by virtue of being a member of the Canadian International Council.

About our speaker:

Christopher Neal was a freelance journalist in Latin America in the 1980s, who later managed communications in the region for the World Bank. He has a Masters of International Policy and Practice from George Washington University, where he concentrated on U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. Mr. Neal has recently taken on the role of president of CIC-Montreal, where he has established a hugely successful renaissance of the branch.