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“Argentina’s realignment offers Washington a foothold in the Southern Cone at a moment of strategic competition.”

“State responses to escalating violence can also jeopardize democracy,” Jana Nelson and I write in Americas Quarterly. “Political leaders are, one after another, declaring states of emergency that suspend civil liberties.”

The BRICS was already a Tower of Babel before its 2024 expansion. Even so, I wouldn’t underestimate the US capacity to promote BRICS unity, including on trade and de-dollarization.

This is provocative, but only modestly. Colombia’s plan predates Trump. Argentina signed the BRI in 2022 and its new pro-Trump leader never withdrew, even as he snubbed the BRICS. More importantly, Trump’s alternative to the BRI is tariffs and suspended foreign aid.

Indeed, US foreign policy and trade protectionism risk nudging Latin American leaders from an ossified preference for nonalignment to a China First strategy, as the leaders of Brazil and Chile also plan travel to Beijing. elpais.com/america/2025-0…

Just as Europe is belatedly recognizing its need for strategic autonomy, Washington’s sharp cuts to foreign assistance should push Latin America and the Caribbean to create its own regional security institution, argue Jana Nelson and Benjamin Gedan: americasquarterly.org/article/to-fig…

Remarkably, given US designs on the Panama Canal, the country’s most profitable and symbolically important asset, Panama remains committed to strong US-Panama ties. As its leaders navigate economic challenges and public angst, there is still a chance for the US to be a partner.

“Even though it’s the world’s most violent region, interstate armed conflict is exceedingly rare. That has left the Western Hemisphere without a dedicated regional institution” to fight transnational organized crime, Jana Nelson and I write in Americas Quarterly.

Argentina’s energy revolution cuts against its reputation for pendular public policies that chase away investment. For more than a decade, four presidents sought to develop Vaca Muerta. Sans grieta, the strategy paid off, with a projected $8 billion energy surplus this year.

“Security forces across the Americas are beginning to recognize that the scale of the challenge demands close cross-border cooperation,” Jana Nelson and I wrote in Americas Quarterly. This year’s Summit of the Americas offers “a valuable opportunity to discuss an ambitious regional

Salvadorans deserve both security *and* democracy, including press freedom.

A big idea from Benjamin Gedan & his co-author. Excellent idea. To Fight Organized Crime, Latin America Needs a Regional Security Force americasquarterly.org/article/to-fig…

"To Fight Organized Crime, #LatinAmerica Needs a Regional Security Force" Jana Nelson Benjamin Gedan via Americas Society/Council of the Americas ⁦Americas Quarterly⁩ americasquarterly.org/article/to-fig…

“Unemployment and poverty both spiked initially under Milei, but have since improved as the country emerged from recession. The jobless rate ended last year at 6.4%, slightly higher than when Milei took office.”

Pope Leo’s human rights advocacy will draw attention not only to US hardline migration policy, but also to challenges in Latin America, including in his adopted homeland, Peru.

Para o bem ou para o mal, friendly ties between Latin American leaders and the Russian dictator are no longer a source of tension with the United States, a big change since January 20.

A rare fresh (and very good) idea. Check it out.

The India-Pakistan fighting will not be the last time the administration’s isolationist instincts are nudged aside out of fears of escalation and impacts on the US. For example, the US will inevitably reengage in Haiti, where criminal gangs threaten to seize total control.

It was important for Mulino to resolve this standoff involving his onetime political patron. But Nicaragua should not have offered Martinelli diplomatic asylum in the first place, prohibited in cases involving ordinary crimes. A similar abuse of the asylum system by Mexico led