Overthrow (book)

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Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq is a book published in 2006 by award-winning New York Times foreign correspondent and author Stephen Kinzer about the United States's involvement in the overthrow of foreign governments from the late 19th century to the present. According to Kinzer, the first such instance was the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, and continuing to America-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. His examples include mini-histories of the U.S.-supported or encouraged coup d'états in Hawaii, Cuba, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Honduras, Iran, Guatemala, South Vietnam, Chile, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Some examples used in the book refer to American support for local rebels against the existing national governments that lead to a change in power. For example, in 1898, the United States helped overthrow the government of Cuba by supporting local rebels who were already fighting their government. In other circumstances, such as in Iran, Guatemala and Chile, the United States initiated, planned and orchestrated the regime change.