FEATURED

The Inter-American Dialogue is involved in a variety of activities in preparation for the sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia in April 2012. To inform the debate that will take place among the presidents of the Western Hemisphere, the Summit Committee commissioned the Dialogue to prepare a series of papers on topics including natural disasters, citizen security, poverty and inequality, and health and technology.

During the lead-up to the summit, the Dialogue convened several public meetings to enrich the quality and relevance of the summit. On March 15, Colombia's Summit coordinator, Ambassador Jaime Jiron, joined officials from the State Department and the OAS to discuss prospects for Cartagena. At an April 10 meeting, drug policy experts gathered at the Dialogue to discuss the implications of the anticipated drug policy debate at the Summit. Since the first Summit of the Americas in Miami in 1994, the Dialogue has played a role leading up to and following each summit, with a focus on the specific issues, as well as the process itself, and how it might better serve the changing needs of the hemisphere.

ABOUT

The Inter-American Institutions program aims to monitor and analyze the developments of the Organziation of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations, and other multilateral institutions operating in the Western Hemisphere.

The Dialogue offers a forum for leaders to identify collective policy priorities and has frequently been invited to assist in framing the agenda for hemispheric gatherings. The Dialogue hopes to encourage strategic, region-wide thinking and more productive integration among the hemisphere's key leaders.

STAFF

Michael Shifter, President
Peter Hakim, President Emeritus
Kim Covington, Program Assistant

For more information, contact Kim Covington at kcovington@thedialogue.org or (202) 463-2938.

ARTICLES & OP-EDS 

• Voz de América Latina se escucha más fuerte en el mundo, Interview with Michael Shifter, Portafolio, April 13, 2012.
• A Consequential Summit? by Peter Hakim, Infolatam, April 12, 2012.
• The Right Place for a Drug Policy Debate, by Peter Hakim, El Espectador, March 13, 2012.
• La importancia de la cumbre en Cartagena, by Michael Shifter, El Colombiano, February 28, 2012. (English)
• The Shifting Landscape of Latin American Regionalism, by Michael Shifter, Current History, February 2012.
• The Next Summit of the Americas: A Preview of Cartagena, by Peter Hakim, Infolatam, January 12, 2012.
• América Latina no se desvinculará de EE UU por la CELAC, interview with Michael Shifter in El Nacional, December 4, 2011.
• Mexico: Have Far Have Institutions Come?, by Claudio Loser, Latin America Advisor, April 6, 2011.
• Violence and Impunity: Protecting Journalists in Colombia and Mexico, March 3, 2010. (Spanish)
• Vulnerabilidad y remesas en el sector rural Mexicano, by Manuel Orozco, January 15, 2010.
• How Much Danger Does Mexico Face in This Turbulent Time?, by Claudio Loser, Latin America Advisor, June 1, 2009.
• Mexico: A safe vessel or a risky wreck in turbulent waters?, by Claudio Loser, Emerging Markets Forum, May 13, 2009.

MORE PROGRAM PUBLICATIONS

IN THE PRESS

• Beyond the secret service scandal, TIME Magazine, April 16, 2012.
• La salud de Chávez sigue generando incertidumbre, Michael Shifter in El Diario de Guayana, April 15, 2012.
• Chávez misses Obama summit confrontation fueling cancer scare, Michael Shifter in Bloomberg Businessweek, April 15, 2012.
• Hugo Chávez skips summit, citing doctor's orders, Michael Shifter in Huffington Post, April 14, 2012.
• At Latin America summit, Obama to face push for drug legalization, Michael Shifter in LA Times, April 13, 2012.
• This weekend's Summit of the Americas, Peter Hakim in Latin Pulse Podcast, April 13, 2012.
• La férrea posición de EE.UU, Peter Hakim in El Espectador, April 12, 2012.
• Colombia and Mexcio push for drugs debate, Michael Shifter in Financial Times, April 6, 2012.
• Decriminalizing Drugs in Latin America, Peter Hakim in Latin Pulse Podcast, April 6, 2012.
• New Canadian strategy for Americas expected, Peter Hakim in CBC News, March 22, 2012.
• Viva las Americas? Harper expected to announce renewed interest in the Hemisphere, Peter Hakim in Global Winnipeg, 22, March, 2012.
• Americas summit should include Cuba, Latin leftists tell US, Michael Shifter in Chicago Tribune, 15 February, 2012.
• Camino a Cartagena, Socorro Ramirez in El Tiempo, 20 January, 2012.
• América Latina se 'independiza' de EU, Michael Shifter in AFP, 6 December, 2011.
• Latin America's CELAC summit: a definitive rejection of the US? Michael Shifter in Time, December 2, 2011.

• Drug Policy at the Summit of the Americas, April 10, 2012.
  
• The Cartagena Summit: Agenda, Challenges, and Expectations, March 15, 2012.
  
• A Congressional Discussion on Violence, Crime, and Citizen Security in Central America and Mexico, July 13, 2011.
• Mexico's Economic Recession and the Prospects for Recovery, August 18, 2009.
• Managing the U.S.-Mexico Relationship, June 23, 2009.
• Discussion on Mexican Politics and U.S.-Mexico Relations. June 10, 2009.
• Challenges for Mexico Democracy with Beatrice Paredes, May 26, 2009.
• Press Roundtable: Obama's Trip to Mexico and the Summit of the America, April 14, 2009.
• A Congressional Discussion on U.S.-Mexico Relations, March 31, 2009.
• Security and Human Rigths in Mexico, October 29, 2008.
• Violence against Journalists and Impunity in Mexico, June 17, 2008.
• Cross Border Challenges in US-Mexico Relations, February 25, 2008.

  MORE PROGRAM EVENTS

"Digital Technologies: A Path to Improved Education and Health in Remote Communities," Peter Hakim with Mariellen Jewers, November 9, 2011.

"Managing Natural Disasters," Lucy Conger, with research assistance from Cory Siskind, September 23, 2011. (Spanish).

"Constructing Citizen Security in the Americas," Peter Hakim with Kim Covington, September 23, 2011. (Spanish).

"Pobreza, desigualdad y Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio en América Latina y el Caribe," Nora Lustig, September 23, 2011. (English).

"Latin American Multilateralism: New Directions," forward by Michael Shifter, Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL) September 28, 2010.

A Second Chance: U.S. Policy in the Americas. Inter-American Dialogue. March 2009.

"Atmospherics Dominate Cordial Summit," by Michael Shifter and Dan Joyce, Oxford Analytica, April 27, 2009.

"After the Summit," by Peter Hakim, Infolatam, April 20, 2009. (Spanish)

"The Promise of Port of Spain," by Michael Shifter, El Tiempo (Colombia), April 8, 2009. (Spanish)

"How to Judge the 2009 Summit," by Peter Hakim, First Magazine, April 7, 2009.

"President Obama and the OAS," by Michael Shifter, Américas, April 1, 2009. (Spanish)

"No Surprise: the Spotlight Will Be On Obama in Trinidad and Tobago," by Peter Hakim, Infolatam, March 3, 2009. (Spanish)

"Why We Are Together," by Peter Hakim, FOCAL Point, August 7, 2008.

“Impunity in Buenos Aires bombing,” by Marifeli Pérez-Stable, Miami Herald, September 11.

More publications...

IACHR Report on Citizen Security and Human Rights featuring IACHR’s vice-chair Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro and executive secretary Santiago Canton. Commentary was be provided by Adriana Beltrán, WOLA senior associate for citizen security. October 19, 2010.

Congressional Members Discuss the Organization of American States hosted by Representatives Xavier Becerra (D- CA) and Bob Goodlatte (R- VA). Select participants included OAS secretary general José Miguel Insulza, Carmen Lomellin, and former assistant secretary general, Luigi Einaudi. May 12, 2010.

Fighting Corruption in the Americas: Is the Inter-American Convention Living Up To Its Potential? Featuring Federico Arenoso of Poder Ciudadano in Buenos Aires, Lupe Cajías of Transparencia Bolivia, and Iván Meini, a consultant with Consejo Nacional para la Ética Pública (Proética) in Lima, Peru. September 15, 2009.

Press Roundtable on the Summit and Obama's Trip to Mexico featuring Sidney Weintraub of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Dialogue’s Claudio Loser, Michael Shifter, Dan Erikson and Peter Hakim. April 14, 2009.

Is Hemispheric Energy Cooperation Viable? Featuring Ramon Espinasa, senior oil and gas analyst at the Inter-American Development Bank, Sidney Weintraub of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Paul Isbell, visiting senior fellow at the Dialogue. April 10, 2009. 

The Fifth Summit of the Americas: What is Expected? Co-sponsored by the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. Featuring OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, IDB President Alberto Moreno, former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos and former US Special Envoy for the Americas, Thomas F. McLarty. April 8 2009. Watch this event on C-SPAN

The Inter-American Institutions program focuses on the OAS, Summit of the Americas and other institutions in the Western Hemisphere.