Por: Luis Herrera Lasso, Grupo Coppan

Fecha: Diciembre 2012.

Resumen: Reconocemos, por parte de los Estados de la región, políticas esencialmente nacionales (en contraposición con esquemas de cooperación regional) que han probado ser insuficientes frente al carácter transnacional de las amenazas. Esta situación se refleja en la expansión de los fenómenos delictivos, en especial en México y Centroamérica y, en el deterioro de la situación en las fronteras terrestres, en particular en la frontera México–Estados Unidos y en la frontera México-Centroamérica, en donde se ha incrementado la inseguridad pública y se han complicado los flujos legales. Después de hacer una revisión estratégica en torno a la forma en que se presentan las amenazas a la seguridad regional, incursionamos en los mecanismos actuales de cooperación regional de los países de la región y concluimos con algunas recomendaciones de las oportunidades y retos que se le presentan a México en este ámbito en el momento actual.

Para descargar el documento completo presione aquí

Title: The Political Culture of Democracy in the Americas, 2014: Democratic Governance across 10 Years of the Americas Barometer

By: Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Summary: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) takes pride in its support of the AmericasBarometer. While the surveys’ primary goal is to give citizens a voice on a broad range of important issues, they also help guide USAID programming and inform policymakers throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region. USAID officers use the AmericasBarometer findings to prioritize funding allocation and guide program design. The surveys are frequently employed as an evaluation tool, by comparing results in specialized “oversample” areas with national trends. In this sense, AmericasBarometer is at the cutting-edge of gathering high quality impact evaluation data that are consistent with the 2008 National Academy of Sciences recommendations to USAID and the new evaluation policy put in place by USAID in 2011. The AmericasBarometer also alerts policymakers and international assistance agencies to potential problem areas, and informs citizens about democratic values and experiences in their countries relative to regional trends.

To download the full document click here

By: Richard J. Kilroy, Jr., Abelardo Rodríguez Sumano y Todd S. Hataley

Source: Journal of Strategic Security

Summary: This article examines the concept of "perimeter defense" within the context of the new security challenges that the United States, Mexico, and Canada face today. Questions to be addressed in the article include: Do all these nations share the same "threat" perception?; Where exactly is the "perimeter?" What security arrangements have been tried in the past?; What are the prospects for the future for increased security cooperation? The main focus of this article is at the sub-regional level in North America and whether a new "trilateral" strategic security relationship between the United States, Canada, and Mexico can emerge in North America.

To download the full document click here

By: Douglas Farah

Summary: The emergence of new hybrid (state and nonstate) transnational criminal and terrorist franchises in Latin America poses a tier-one security threat for the United States. These organizations operate under broad state protection and undermine democratic governance, sovereignty, growth, trade, and stability. Similar hybrid franchise models are developing in other parts of the world, which makes understanding their new dynamics essential, as they are an important element in the broader global security context. This threat goes well beyond the traditional nonstate transnational organized crime (TOC) activity, which includes drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking. It also encompasses trafficking in and the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by designated terrorist organizations and their sponsors.

To download the full document click here