Monroe Doctrine

noun

Mon·​roe Doctrine mən-ˈrō- 

 also  ˈmən-,

 or  ˈmän-

: a statement of U.S. foreign policy expressing opposition to extension of European control or influence in the western hemisphere

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The paper seemed to downplay the reciprocity inherent to the Monroe Doctrine—that the U.S. would aim to avoid interfering in other spheres too. —Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 30 Mar. 2023

Theodore Roosevelt invoked the Monroe Doctrine in 1904 when European powers threatened to invade Latin American nations to collect debts. —Kerry J. Byrne, Fox News, 2 Dec. 2022

Both sets further offer lesson plans on industrialization, the Spanish-American War, the Monroe Doctrine, the New Deal, America’s role in World War II, the Cold War, and more recent incidents such as 9/11, among other topics. —Hannah Natanson, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2022

The Monroe Doctrine has been the cornerstone of US policy in the Americas for almost two centuries. —Brad Lendon, CNN, 13 June 2022

China, pushing its aggressive Belt and Road initiative, is threatening U.S. hegemony in Latin America dating from the Monroe Doctrine. —Soudi Jiménez, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2022

The result was the Monroe Doctrine. —David M. Shribman, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2022

The United States, invoking the Monroe Doctrine, warned the Europeans against landing troops. —Dan Mclaughlin, National Review, 3 Mar. 2022

Written by John Quincy Adams – Monroe’s secretary of state at the time – and issued in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine ringingly demarcated the entire vast territory of the Americas as a new world, immune from European imperialism. —Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Nov. 2020

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Word History

Etymology

James Monroe

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above