Smith specializes in comparative politics, Latin American politics, and U.S.-Latin American relations. His major publications include Politics and Beef in Argentina: Patterns of Conflict and Change (1969), Argentina and the Failure of Democracy: Conflict among Political Elites, 1904-1955 (1974), Labyrinths of Power: Political Recruitment in Twentieth-Century Mexico (1979), Talons of the Eagle: Dynamics of U.S.-Latin American Relations (1996; 2nd edition, 2000), and Democracy in Latin America: Political Change in Comparative Perspective (forthcoming 2005). He is co-author of Modern Latin America (1984), now in its sixth edition (2004) and a selection of the History Book Club. He is also the editor or co-editor of more than a dozen anthologies, among them Drug Policy in the Americas (1992), Latin America in Comparative Perspective: New Approaches to Methods and Analysis (1995), NAFTA in the New Millenium (2002), East Asia and Latin America: The Unlikely Alliance (2003), and Promises of Empowerment: Women in Asia and Latin America (2004). Smith has served as president of the Latin American Studies Association and has been a consultant to the Ford Foundation, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and other institutions. At UCSD, Smith served as director of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (1989-2001) and director of Latin American Studies (1994-2001).  He is also the moderator of "HemiScope," a UCSD-TV news program about current events in Latin America that is broadcast via cable and satellite throughout the United  States.

Contact Information
Office: SSB 364
Phone: (858) 534-6043
E-mail: phsmith@ucsd.edu