Shifting the Balance: Obama and the Americas

Foreword

vii Foreword The Obama administration has been in office nearly two years, long enough to determine its approach and priorities and to set them in motion. Although President Obama’s approval ratings remain extraordinarily high in Latin America, there are some indications that the grace period is over. First, the pillars that the U.S. administration has set as priorities in its hemispheric agenda lack concrete and visible results. This is interpreted by many as disengagement . Second, and more important, political polarization in the United States—especially in regard to migration and trade—not only does not allow the agenda to move forward, but also has made many governments in Latin America worry about what lies ahead if Washington adopts an even more protectionist stance. But there are also positive signs. As the authors of this book see it, while initial results are somewhat disappointing, the Obama administration has successfully shifted some policies and is using the language of collaboration and partnership rather than confrontation. Precisely because of this, the administration can build on specific opportunities for more constructive and effective relations with the diverse countries of the Americas. Few administrations, and none in many decades, have inherited such a daunting agenda as has the Obama administration: a cascading and interconnected series of financial and economic problems; two prolonged, difficult , and unpopular wars; the continuing threat from international terrorists; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; global climate change and 00-0562-8 fm.indd 7 11/2/10 11:14 AM viii Foreword complex international negotiations to respond to this challenge; an impasse in world trade negotiations; international currency misalignments and rising protectionist measures; energy and food insecurity; crime and international trafficking of drugs, people, and arms; and the ever more complex management of relations with the Middle East, Europe, Russia, China, the South Asian subcontinent, and sub-Sahara Africa. In this extraordinarily challenging context, few observers expected the incoming administration to devote much attention to relations with the countries of the Americas. They do not present direct and immediate challenges to U.S. security, nor are they a major source or target of international terrorism. Their economies are bouncing back well from the global recession , and poverty and inequality are decreasing. Here at Brookings, the Latin America Initiative is focused on how U.S. relations with the region could be improved in such a complex environment. The region may not pose imminent security threats, but it is every year more important for the day-to-day welfare and longer-term interests of the United States, because these near neighbors are increasingly intertwined with their northern neighbor; they are important markets for U.S. exports; many of them can play decisive roles in confronting global challenges from energy development to climate change, global trade and governance, public health and narcotics. With these points in mind, Brookings in 2008 convened a Partnership of the Americas Commission to provide forward-looking recommendations for the incoming administration on these and related issues. As part of that effort, we also commissioned a symposium volume of essays by leading experts from Latin America, Europe, and the United States. The resulting book, The Obama Administration and the Americas: Agenda for Change—coedited by Abraham F. Lowenthal, Theodore J. Piccone, and Laurence Whitehead and published on the eve of the Summit of the Americas that took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in April 2009—was a timely and well-received contribution to a more balanced and constructive rethinking of U.S. policies. The summit’s atmosphere was suffused with high expectations, as the new administration’s leading officials, including the president himself, projected an image of openness toward a new era of mutual respect and partnership on common challenges, echoing many of the recommendations for change coming from the Partnership for the Americas Commission, the edited volume, and other reports calling for revised approaches. Eighteen months later, in October 2010, many observers, both in Latin America and in the United States, have expressed disappointment with the 00-0562-8 fm.indd 8 11/2/10 11:14 AM Foreword ix follow-up to the summit and with U.S. policy on a number of issues: the coup in Honduras, the military presence in Colombia, the Copenhagen climate change negotiations, bilateral and global trade agreements, immigration reform, relations with Cuba, policy on narcotics, and the vexing issue of the Guantánamo detention...