The Americas Archive

Japan and Colombia recently agreed to deepen economic relations, following a meeting between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Tokyo. In an email interview, Melba Falck Reyes, a professor in the Pacific studies department at the University of Guadalajara, discussed Japan-Latin America relations. WPR: What is the recent history of Japan’s trade and diplomatic relations with Latin America? Melba Falck Reyes: In Latin America, Japan has a long history of diplomatic relations with Mexico, Peru and Brazil. It is no coincidence that these nations are presently Japan’s main economic partners in the region. In […]

The decision this week by Russia and China to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for its use of violence against its domestic opponents has attracted much attention — and opprobrium. What has generated less discussion is the fact that the three states of the IBSA bloc — India, Brazil and South Africa — abstained from the vote. But their unwillingness to support the resolution has clear implications both for the future of the “responsibility to protect” doctrine as well as for America’s own relationships with the rising democracies of the South. […]

The transition from U.S. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen to Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has triggered a wave of speculation about how the U.S. military is destined to evolve during the coming years. Some have gone so far as to paint Mullen’s departure as a turning point in American military history. In interviewing Mullen last week, for instance, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius found himself wondering “if we are entering a ‘post-military’ age when our top officers understand that the biggest problems can’t be solved with military power.” While it’s a […]

In its goal to significantly decrease its dependency on foreign oil, the U.S. Navy has successfully tested its first unmanned reconnaissance helicopter powered by biofuel. The trial was the second successful test for the Navy in as many weeks.

When Argentina’s economic and political system imploded in 2001, few imagined that only 10 years later the Southern Cone nation would be one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. After a nimble recovery fueled by a depreciated currency and a spike in world commodity prices, today Argentina is flush with cash. Its economy is booming, and barring a global meltdown, demand from China and other emerging markets for its commodities is unlikely to fade. So it is not surprising that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner won more than 50 percent of the vote in the country’s open primaries in […]

On Monday, an F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter completed its first vertical landing at sea, aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. The F-35B has been the most troubled of the problem-beset F-35 family, suffering from a variety of teething pains as well as concerns about range, payload and stealth characteristics. As the Defense Department worries about austerity, some have targeted the F-35, and the B model in particular, for cuts. A recent article in the Marine Corps Gazette suggested that the United States Marine Corps, heretofore the strongest proponent of the F-35B, should abandon the aircraft in favor […]