The Americas Archive

A diplomatic initiative triggered by Secretary of State John Kerry’s seemingly off-the-cuff remarks has temporarily stopped the clock on U.S. military strikes against Syria in response to the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Nevertheless, the previous week’s tumultuous debate over the appropriate U.S. response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria shows that there is no longer a consensus on the purpose of American military power or even the meaning of “war.” But there is equally little agreement over what should replace the old ideas. For most of American history, the purpose of national military power gradually […]

In Brazil, organized crime is a difficult subject to tackle. This is at least in part because the dynamics of organized crime and violence in Brazil have been changing dramatically in recent years. Historically, violence and crime have been synonymous with Rio de Janeiro’s favelas: marginal parts of the city where poor migrants settled, building their own homes piece by piece and outside the relative safety of urban services and regulation. Beginning in the early 1990s, images, stories and local and international headlines of poor, gun-toting young black men, often shirtless but otherwise wearing soccer jerseys, were ubiquitous. The favela-covered […]

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part investigative series on U.S. and French counterterrorism efforts in Niger. Part I examined Niger’s emergence as a target of terrorist groups active in the Sahel region. Part II examines the growing U.S. security presence in Niger, and the nascent tensions with France over how best to counter terror and bolster Niger’s security. Though much has been made of Niger’s recent ascendance as a key U.S. ally in the Sahel region, the country had already begun to distinguish itself as a useful counterterrorism ally in Department of Defense circles as early as […]

Until today, last week’s G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, looked to be a bust. Although the group, whose members represent 90 percent of the world’s economy, is not supposed to have a traditional military security agenda, the impending U.S. military strike against Syria ensured that the Syrian issue would dominate deliberations. Despite efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to convince the other leaders in attendance of the need to respond to the Syrian government’s Aug. 21 use of chemical weapons with military force, the group remained sharply divided on the issue. China and Russia but also Brazil, India and […]

Can Barack Obama ever trust the United Nations Security Council again? And will the Security Council, and the U.N. more broadly, trust the U.S. president? Last week, Obama vented his frustration with diplomacy over Syria at a press conference during the G-20 summit in Russia. Asked why he had called for military action in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s resort to the use of chemical weapons, Obama claimed the alternatives “would be some resolutions that were being proffered in the United Nations and the usual hocus-pocus.” This was a sour if pithy turn of phrase from a president who […]

President Barack Obama apparently failed to change any minds on Syria when the leaders attending the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, met for a working dinner Thursday night. Instead, according to Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, the divisions over Syria “were confirmed” at the dinner. One of the problems facing the Obama team is that there remains widespread skepticism about the veracity of U.S. intelligence claims. Even as lab results from Britain’s Porton Down laboratory seem to confirm that sarin gas was used in the attack on three Damascus suburbs on Aug. 21, Russia, along with some other countries, […]

On Aug. 6, an appeals court in Chile suspended another electricity megaproject, marking the latest in a series of power-generation setbacks for the increasingly energy-starved nation. That same week, Rene Muga, general manager of the Chilean Electric Power Association, told an energy conference that power consumption in Chile will double by 2025, further calling into question how the country will respond to this increasingly critical need. Chile has struggled to meet rising electricity demand in the face of growing environmental concerns, and the suspension of the 740-megawatt, $1.4 billion Punta Alcalde thermoelectric plant raises questions about the long-term economic implications […]

Over the weekend, President Barack Obama called for a vote on a proposed United States military strike against Syria, with the administration releasing a draft authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) that served as a starting point for congressional discussion this week. Lawmakers are working to amend the broad language of that draft, with new draft language proposed by the Senate that uses narrower language than in the administration’s draft and places some limits on the authorization to use force. Speaking with Trend Lines on Tuesday, John Bellinger III, an expert in national security law, said the president […]

The extent of history-altering decisions often isn’t evident until after the fact. Who could have guessed, for instance, that George H.W. Bush’s decision to oppose Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 would lead the United States into a global war with al-Qaida and a second, even costlier conflict in Iraq? On rare occasions, though, the importance of a decision is apparent even before it is made with finality—the big picture clearly lurking behind the closer, more immediate one. Deciding whether to attack Syria’s Assad regime for the large-scale use of chemical weapons against civilians is just such a choice, […]

Mexico’s new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, has promised to move his country down a path of reform. He has already made significant changes to education policy and has outlined major moves in Mexico’s energy sector. Yet promised shifts in security policy have yet to materialize, and skeptics question whether the president’s bold plans will produce lasting changes. This special report looks at Mexico’s chances for reform under Pena Nieto. Governance A More Ambitious Vision for MexicoBy Antonio GarzaFebruary 20, 2013 At Long Last, Mexico’s Bright FutureBy Frida GhitisJanuary 3, 2013 Mexico’s Peña Nieto Will Have Trouble Keeping Reform PromisesBy David […]

The impending U.S. military strike against Syria due to the Syrian army’s massive use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians underscores the difficulties involved in using military force in such situations. It would be far better and less costly to strengthen the Chemical Weapons Convention and other nonproliferation tools than to apply military power to eliminate rogue states’ existing chemical weapons (CW) materials or try to limit their use. Obama administration officials have cited various reasons for launching a limited attack: to punish the Syrian government for its past CW use; to deter further use; and, in case deterrence fails, […]

Last month, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina Gonzalez held talks in Havana with Bahamas Foreign Minister Frederick Mitchell. In an email interview, Gerardo González Núñez, professor of economic and administrative sciences at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, explained Cuba’s economic relations with other Caribbean nations. WPR: What are Cuba’s economic priorities in the Caribbean in terms of countries and sectors? Gerardo González Núñez: Economic relations between Cuba and the Caribbean have not been very stable or large-scale. Trade between Cuba and the Caribbean has been dominated by the exchange of petroleum products and manufactures in the area of […]