Much Ado About Nothing: Accurately Assessing Lula’s Recent International Overtures

In a global economy shaped by inflationary trends, energy shortages, and market instability, Lula’s domestic success will depend to a significant degree on his international achievements. While Bolsonaro obscured the relevance of country in the global arena, Lula expanded Brazil’s presence in the early 2000s by enlarging the list of economic partner and diversifying strategic partnerships, particularly in the global South.

Read More »

Kirchnerism is in Crisis, But Peronism Will Survive

With inflation and poverty rising, the acute state of currency reserves, open confrontation between government officials, and a vice president that constantly questions the president’s legitimacy, we may be witnessing the end of Kirchnerism’s 20-year-long hegemony over Peronism.

Read More »

Brazil and the Illiberal Anti-U.S. Alliance

Lula’s work to create a de facto anti-U.S. illiberal alliance of Latin American leftist regimes and extra-hemispheric U.S. rivals further comes at a time in which those countries geographically closest to the United States—including Mexico, the Northern Triangle, and parts of the Caribbean—are moving away from political and security cooperation with the US, and toward a deepen embrace of the PRC.

Read More »

The Impact of Russia’s Ukraine Invasion on Latin America

Today, the impact of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and its ongoing military activities against Ukraine’s population and infrastructure to occupy the country is consistent with the relationship Latin America has had with Europe historically. The effects flowing from that interdependence have been significant and multifaceted against a backdrop of a region-making an effort to distance itself from them.

Read More »

Muerte Cruzada and Ecuadorian Democracy

Despite its novelty, the act did not plunge the country into crisis as some critics warned, nor did it mark a death knell for Ecuadorian democracy, as others argued. To the contrary, muerte cruzada acted as a constitutional release valve, helping dissipate popular discontent and providing a democratic exit for an unpopular president who was facing his second impeachment trial and third motion for impeachment in two years.

Read More »

Decarbonize, Diversify, and Depolarize

Climate change and the global energy transition place Latin America and the Caribbean at a crossroads: it can either take a leap forward to become a more prosperous and relevant region, or it can fail and see our human and economic development stagnate.

Read More »

The Greatest Challenges the Americas Face

The region faces the ever-growing threat of climate change, persistent inequality, the destructive middle-income trap, growing disillusionment with democracy, the largest refugee crisis outside of a war zone, among numerous other challenges… identifying which challenges are the most pressing and challenging is a difficult task—but a necessary one if governments across the region are to address these threats.

Read More »

Brazil’s Rising Challenges in the New World Order

Of special relevance in the Latin American context, Brazil, the largest nation and economy of the continent, and a country that historically managed well to sustain a course of largely autonomous but close relations with the hemispheric hegemon, finds itself today in an especially challenging position.

Read More »
Scroll to Top