CIAO DATE: 05/2009
Volume: 9, Issue: 1
Winter/Spring 2008
Message from the Editor (PDF)
The US and Latin America: Repairing a Damaged Relationship (PDF)
Peter Hakim
Repairing the US relationship with Latin America will be a formidable challenge for the United States, regardless of who is elected president next year. Trust and credibility have to be restored among the region’s leaders and ordinary citizens. The anti-Americanism that has taken hold in the region has to be reversed while the practice of political and economic cooperation has to be restored; however, the prospects for success do not depend only on Washington.
Democratic Transformation in Latin America (PDF)
Jennifer L. McCoy
We are currently witnessing a demand to expand citizenship to civil and social realms in Latin America, the region of the world with the most unequal income distribution. This may be seen as a new stage of democratization within the Third Wave begun in 1978, one that inherently creates conflict over the redistribution of power and resources.
Peace Without Security: Central America in the 21st Cetury (PDF)
Richard Millett, Thomas Shannon Stiles
During the last decades of the twentieth century, Central America became a battleground between the major ideologies of the bipolar system. Tens of thousands died; hundreds of thousands fled the region. With the end of the Cold War, these conflicts finally ended through negotiated peace agreements and relatively free elections, and many believed that security would inevitably follow.
Planning For Succession in Cuba: the Long 'Anti-Transition' (PDF)
Antoni Kapcia
Even before Fidel Castro announced (July 31, 2006) a temporary handover of power to his First Vice-President and brother, Raúl, the discussion outside Cuba of the post-Fidel ‘succession’ was—and continues to be—underpinned by several assumptions.
Democratic Reform and Injustice in Latin America: The Citizenship Gap Between Law and Society (PDF)
Alison Brysk
Latin America is a paradoxical world leader. In the twentieth century, Latin America led the struggle for democracy—and now, Latin America leads in unjust societies that cannot fulfill the promise of universal human rights despite elections and theoretical rule of law. The “citizenship gap” between developed formal entitlements and distorted life conditions, including massive personal insecurity, is greater than in any other region.
Populism and Foreign Policy in Venezuela and Iran (PDF)
Michael Dodson, Manochehr Dorraj
The remarkable ascendance of Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, has generated new interest in Latin America’s recurrent populism. Like the charismatic populists that preceded him, Chávez rose to power rapidly and became a symbol of deepening social polarization.
Linn Hammergren
In the democratic opening of the early 1980s, judicial reform appeared on the policy agenda throughout Latin America. Although such efforts were not new to the region, their virtually universal and nearly simultaneous adoption into policy was novel, extending even to the few countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela) without recent de facto regimes. The movement eventually incorporated the entire justice sector (“sector”) rather than the courts alone. The reforms were locally inspired, though they received
Brazil: Bright Prospects or Dark Portents? (PDF)
Matthew M. Taylor
Brazil is an island on its continent, separated from its neighbors by an ocean of history, culture, and language. And yet whither Brazil, so too Latin America. The country accounts for a sixth of the region’s trade, and more than a third of its GDP and its population. In addition to its large share in all cross-regional quantitative measures, Brazil’s weight is geopolitical as well, with the country playing a central role among leading emerging markets. The state of affairs in Brazil, then, is of enormous concern to its neighbors, and should be of great concern to the rest of the world as well.
Turning to the Left? Understanding Some Unexpected Events in Latin America (PDF)
Carlos M. Vilas
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela are currently ruled by governments that are typically considered to be on the left of the political spectrum due to their progressive, reformist stances. Together, these states account for almost two thirds of Latin America’s population and roughly half of its combined GDP. In the 2006 presidential election in Mexico, the candidate who shared the political views of the aforementioned states was defeated by less than 1 percent in a contested turnout.
Social Cohesion in China: Lessons from the Latin American Experience (PDF)
Mariano Turzi
China’s economic development over the last three decades has been dazzling critics and supporters alike. Since the launching of the “Four Modernizations” reform process in 1978, growth has averaged 9 percent annually.1 As a result, according to IMF data released in July 2007, China is poised to overtake Germany as the world's third-largest economy. As growth has slowed in Europe, Japan, and the US the Chinese economy grew at a staggering rate of 11.9 percent in the second quarter of 2007.2 The IMF report also pointed out that if exchange rates are adjusted to equalize the cost of goods in different countries (purchasing-power parity) China is already the world's second-largest economy.
Diplomatic Processes and Cultural Variations: The Relevance of Culture in Diplomacy (PDF)
Wilfried Bolewski
The relationship between diplomacy and culture has been somewhat neglected in recent academic and practical studies, even though competence and understanding during intercultural exchanges unites societies and facilitates further intercultural interactions. Current public discussions concentrate exclusively on the existence of cultural commonalities and universal values all cultures share.
Institutional Interaction in Global Environmental Governance (PDF)
John Martin Gillroy
Institutional Interaction in Global Environmental Governance: Synergy and Conflict among International and EU Policies. Eds. Sebastian Oberthür and Thomas Gehing, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2006. 425 pp. US$28.00 (paperback) ISBN 0-262-65110-6