South America: New Realities, Persistent Challenges

Over the past decade, South America has experienced dramatic changes, in terms of both the region's politics and its place in the global economy. But while progress has been made, it has been uneven, and many shared governance challenges remain stubbornly persistent. That has meant unexpected foreign policy defeats for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who has seen his influence plummet in recent years. It has also highlighted the ways in which U.S. policy must be brought up to date to reflect the region's new realities.

Articles in this feature

South America's Governance Agenda

By Michael Shifter and Alexis Arthur, , Feature

In June 2011, Ollanta Humala was elected president of Peru after campaigning on a platform of moderate change -- one that won't entail upending the prevailing system, but that will require serious institutional reform. Whether his program will be effectively implemented could have implications for the region at large, for the governance challenges Peru faces, though extreme, are shared by almost all South American states.

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Chávez's Declining Influence in Latin America

By Javier Corrales, , Feature

Taking advantage of the low levels of popularity of the United States in Latin America around 2003 and discontent over the economic crisis of 1999-2002, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez launched the most anti-American, anti-capitalist foreign policy the region had seen since the Cold War ended. Today, in contrast, Chávez's grand foreign policy in Latin America is, like the president himself, ailing.

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U.S.-South America Relations: Rising Rivalry, Prickly Partnership

By Christopher Sabatini, , Feature

Recent developments in South America and in Washington have led many to declare the end of U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere. But the reports of the United States' demise have been greatly exaggerated. Economically and politically, the U.S. remains the leader in what is admittedly a much-changed, more assertive region. What is now necessary, however, is a long-overdue rethink of U.S. policy toward South America. more

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