Latin America Hemispheric Partner

Chapters on Canadian non-governmental organizations in Latin America, Canada's relations with the Caribbean, hemispheric security issues, and the changing infrastructure of North America as it shapes Canadian relations with Latin America will be of special interest to policymakers, international relations experts, and members of the business community throughout the Americas.

Since its creation in 1963, United States Southern Command has been led by 30 senior officers representing all four of the armed forces. None has undertaken his leadership responsibilities with the cultural sensitivity and creativity demonstrated by Admiral Jim Stavridis during his tenure in command. Breaking with tradition, Admiral Stavridis discarded the customary military model as he organized the Southern Command Headquarters. In its place he created an organization designed not to subdue adversaries, but instead to build durable and enduring partnerships with friends. His observation that it is the business of Southern Command to launch "ideas not missiles" into the command's area of responsibility gained strategic resonance throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America, and at the highest levels in Washington, DC.

Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN, reflects on his tenure as Commander of United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). The first Admiral to command Southern Command, Admiral Stavridis broke with tradition from day one, discarding the customary military staff model and creating an innovative organization designed not solely to subdue adversaries, but ... to build durable and lasting partnerships. From his unique perspective as commander, Stavridis uses his personal style to describe his vision for the command's role in the Americas, making most of limited resources to create goodwill and mutual respect, while countering illegal drug trafficking, overcoming a dangerous insurgency in Colombia, and responding to humanitarian crises. He devotes chapters to USSOUTHCOM's role in nurturing institutional respect for human rights among military and security forces of the region, advancing health security, and supporting a new regional strategy to counter the increasing challenge of urban and transnational gang violence. Citing the hemisphere's common geography, culture, economy, and history, Stavridis makes a case for a common approach and strategy for defending our "shared home of the Americas" through an international, interagency, and private-public approach, all connected through coherent effective strategic communication--Publisher's description.

Explores the ways in which the region has re-engaged globalization.