The Americas Archive

Venezuela’s opposition officially assumed control of the country’s legislature Tuesday for the first time since the charismatic socialist Hugo Chavez took power 17 years ago. The congressional swearing-in ceremony was gripping and suspenseful, but also a shambolic, sweltering and chaotic exercise, a fitting start to what promises to be an even more contentious era in Venezuela’s already turbulent political saga. The uncertainty in the air was accompanied by a sense of foreboding mixed with excitement. Competing street demonstrations and political battles that raged outside and inside the parliament building made it abundantly clear that neither side has any intention of […]

For several regional observers and much of the media, the string of conservative electoral victories from Argentina to Venezuela late last year was the last nail in the coffin of Latin America’s left. With Brazil’s leftist government floundering and other signs of discontent among its neighbors, leftism’s appeal appears to be on the decline in the region. But despite setbacks, it’s too soon to declare the left dead in Latin America, given the perseverance of more mainstream leftist governments and ongoing socio-political and economic realities in a region still defined by huge inequality. Admittedly, 2015 did not end well for […]

For a presidential lame duck, Barack Obama had a pretty good year in 2015, and nowhere more so than on foreign policy. The historic, multilateral deal with Iran to limit and ensure transparent oversight of its nuclear fuel enrichment program was the president’s highpoint, the culmination of a six-year strategy to isolate Iran, diplomatically and economically, and force the country to the table to negotiate. The agreement provides a huge boost to global nonproliferation efforts and represents the realization of Obama’s oft-stated goal to dramatically reduce the threat of nuclear weapons. The Iran nuclear agreement, however, may in time be […]

What was your favorite diplomatic breakthrough of 2015? There were quite a few to choose from. For arms control experts, there was the nuclear deal with Iran. For trade specialists, there was the Trans-Pacific Partnership. For environmentalists, there was the COP21 Paris climate change agreement. Add in a few other noteworthy bargains, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and 2015 was a bonanza year for international cooperation, at least in terms of pumping out diplomatic verbiage. But the biggest diplomatic achievement of the past 12 months may have been the simple fact that Russia and the West avoided a return […]