Thinking Strategically About Latin America and the Caribbean (original) (raw)
Related papers
Securing the Future by Looking South: Strategic Opportunities for the United States in Latin America
This article uses three lenses from core international relations schools of thought to identify insights that should drive U.S. security policy in the Western Hemisphere. Although the region is undervalued in U.S. strategic prioritization, all three major international relations frameworks point to its importance. Effective engagement in the hemisphere presents an opportunity for the U.S. to increase its comparative strength to rising and revisionist powers, broaden the western democratic family of nations , and provide a powerful example to the developing world. As U.S. policymakers struggle to triage their time and resources among challenges like ISIS, the rise of China, and an adventurous Russia, Latin America is often relegated to a secondary priority. As a consequence, the United States often misses opportunities to greatly increase its strength and that of its allies. The essential questions when analyzing a region are " How does this region fit into our strategies? How does this region
Why the US Cant Ignore Latin Americas Security Challenges
This article examines the security challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean, finding multiple, significant, and potentially reinforcing sources of instability in the region, including serious security challenges in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela, and other South American states. The work offers concrete recommendations for U.S. policymakers in four areas to meet those challenges.
Latin American Security Challenges: A Collaborative Inquiry from North and South
2004
: Newport Paper 21, "Latin American Security Challenges: A Collaborative Inquiry from North and South," helps reopen the door to serious analyses of the relationship between Latin American national security issues and American strategic interests. The monograph consists of an introduction and conclusion and three substantive essays analyzing specific issues facing Latin America. The first essay, "Latin America's Lawless Areas and Failed States," builds upon the concepts of failed states and borderless regions to suggest how criminals and perhaps terrorists can find refuge and support in localities outside the control of states. The second essay, "Security Implications of Poor Economic Performance in Latin America," provides a solid introduction to the interconnection of economic behavior and the national security threats facing both Latin American governments and the United States. The final essay, "Chinese Interests in Latin America," spe...
Latin America as a Future Strategic Partner
Conditions are right for a new US–Latin American relationship. Using the twentieth century Anglo-American rapprochement as a guide, this paper shows how developments within the United States and Latin America over the past decade suggest that the region can become to Washington what Europe is today: a vital strategic partner.
Revista da Escola de Guerra Naval, 2020
The National Security Strategy (NSS) are specific documents prepared periodically by the United States' executive, describing the main concerns of Americans' national security and developing strategies to face the challenges. At the same time, by exposing the US government's strategic vision, it contributes to informing the US government's approach and intent on various topics related to security and foreign policy. This paper seeks to analyze the NSS of the last four American presidents, in a time frame that runs from the immediate post-Cold War to Trump's administration, as well as its influences with regard to Latin America. Using a quantitative method, through the frequency content analysis, and a qualitative methodology, based on the empirical-deductive method, the central objective is to rationalize that, although there was a relative power vacuum at the beginning of the 21st century, there is a return of the region as an important geopolitical and geoecono...
Prism, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2019
This article examines challenges and opportunities associated with the use of the U.S. military in support of U.S. government efforts to bolster governance and combat insecurity in operations short of combat, in the context of Latin America and the Caribbean. It examines associated challenges with respect to budgetary guidelines and other regulations, and the difficulties of coordinating with partner nations and other parts of the U.S. government. It ends with specific recommendations for U.S. policymakers for how to better use the U.S. military as part of a whole of government approach to strengthening security and governance in the region.
Latin America 2020: Challenges to U.S. National Security Interests
2020
U.S. national security interests in Latin America are undermined by three key threats: transnational criminal organizations, which exploit weak levels of governance across the majority of countries in the region; extra-regional actors, which fill the vacuum created by U.S. distraction and inattention to its neighborhood; and finally, a number of regional political actors embracing ideological positions opposed to open political systems and free markets, which undermine progress toward democratic governance and stability. The United States must acknowledge the deeply rooted causes of the weak levels of governance and engage with greater attention and presence while recognizing its limitations for helping to resolve those weaknesses in the short term. U.S. prestige is on the line within this hemisphere as we confront the ambitions of revisionist powers undermining global order.
Rethinking the Caribbean Basin Initiative: A case study of US foreign policy toward the Caribbean
Latin American Policy, 2023
An analysis of the history of US–Latin America and Caribbean relations shows that the Monroe Doctrine has been revamped through the Caribbean Basin Initiative. This article provides a concise overview of the Initiative. Then, we report empirical findings from a qualitative study conducted in the Caribbean, which discusses the most salient problems associated with the Initiative. The findings show that Caribbean Basin Initiative‐related problems stem mostly from the fact that it is a goods-only agreement; moreover, the initiative's rules of origin, unilateral nature, and uncertainty are exacerbated by the fact that most beneficiaries are service‐oriented economies, they suffer from a supply constraint, and they lack the competitive edge with larger economies that export similar goods to the United States. These problems can be ameliorated through a rethinking of the Caribbean Basin Initiative.