The Americas Archive

The most-read World Politics Review articles from Monday, Jan. 14 through yesterday: 1. State Department’s Plan to Cut Diplomats is Ill-Conceived2. Transatlantic Intelligencer: Saddam’s Money, German Iranian Trade, and More3. Iran’s Hormuz Actions Help Israel Make its Case4. Battle Over Suharto’s Legacy a Test for Modern Indonesia5. Colombia-Venezuela Rift Grows as Chávez Appears to Confirm Support for FARC6. More Allied, Not U.S., Forces Key to Success in Afghanistan7. Hamas and Islamic Millenarianism: What the West Doesn’t Recognize8. Indian Soaps Fall to Islamic Censorship in Afghanistan9. Militant ‘Farmer’ and French Government Make Common Cause in GM Crop Ban10. Corridors of Power: […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’s call to remove Colombia’s guerrilla groups from lists of foreign terrorist organizations has been met with widespread condemnation by the Colombian government and has exacerbated the existing diplomatic crisis between the two neighboring nations. Last week, Colombia rejoiced following the much-anticipated release of two female hostages. But celebrations were quickly overshadowed by Chávez’s controversial declaration that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group are not terrorists but rather “real armies who occupy a space in Colombia.” “FARC and the ELN are insurgent forces who […]

During the past year, the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), established by the Sixth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in December 2006, has provided essential support for international efforts to prevent biological terrorism. Unlike the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the BTWC lacks the large institutional structure to help administer convention-related activities as well as monitor and enforce compliance with its provisions. The three-person ISU, which started work in April 2007 and became fully operational in August 2007, attempts to help fill that gap from its office at the Geneva branch of the […]

Fresh off his come-from-behind victory in New Hampshire’s Republican primary, Sen. John McCain co-authored an op-ed published in today’s Wall Street Journal (the online opinion section of which, is now totally free) with Sen. Joe Lieberman. Their message: The surge has worked, but it’s unclear whether its gains can be sustained after the United States completes a planned drawdown to the pre-surge level of 15 brigades. Thus, they write, a hasty further drawdown would be risky: Gen. Petraeus has already announced that five “surge” brigades will be withdrawn by mid-July. The process is now underway. The Pentagon has also announced […]

A poignant human and political drama always begins to unfold in American life at this time in the election cycle, when the country turns its attention to choosing a new president and begins to ignore the man in the Oval Office. Americans become mesmerized, electrified, even obsessed with the campaign. All the while, the sitting president still has a long time in his contract as leader of the most powerful country in the world. And yet, the resident of the White House starts looking strangely unimportant, his image begins to fade from the evening news, and even his most passionate […]