New AQ Released: The Decline of U.S. Power?

Is the era of U.S. hemispheric hegemony over? The Winter 2015 issue of Americas Quarterly, to be released on February 4, explores how inter-state dynamics have changed in the region, and how this has affected Latin American foreign policy. How are governments and multilateral organizations responding to the real or perceived decline in U.S. influence in the region? Will the greater independence of governments to pursue their own diplomatic paths produce more regional harmony?

In this issue, Daniel W. Drezner asks whether waning U.S. presence will truly benefit the region, while Harold Trinkunas explores Brazil’s rising global ambitions and Rafael Fernández de Castro discusses Mexico’s evolving foreign policy in Central America. Meanwhile, Guy Edwards and Timmons Roberts look at Latin America’s fragmented approach to confronting global climate change, Víctor M. Mijares reviews Venezuela’s post-Chávez foreign policy and the impact of declining oil prices on the country’s economy, and Diana Negroponte examines Russian arms sales in Latin America and provides an overview of the country’s growing role in the region. Plus, our AQ Charticle looks at border conflicts across the hemisphere.

In a special “Ask the Experts” forum, AQ asks regional experts Pia Riggirozzi, Andrew F. Cooper, Rodrigo Páez Montalbán, Jessica Byron, and Oliver Stuenkel to weigh in on the future of the Organization of American States and discuss how it can remain relevant in a changing hemisphere. Also in this issue, journalist Glenn Cheney reports on the life-and-death struggle of Indigenous Tenharim to preserve their land, Antonia Stolper discusses what’s next as Argentina faces off against holdout creditors in U.S. courts, and Jorge Kawas takes an in-depth look at the effectiveness of mano dura policies in Latin America’s penal and judicial systems.

Read the table of contents and check out the AQ app. Subscribe now to take advantage of our special limited-time discount.

In This Issue:

FEATURE SECTION: The Decline of U.S. Power?

A Post-Hegemonic Paradise?
DANIEL W. DREZNER
How the region can turn a multipolar world to its advantage, and stay friendly with the U.S.

Environmental Disharmony
GUY EDWARDS AND TIMMONS ROBERTS
COP15 and the fissures inside the Latin American bloc.

Brazil’s Global Ambitions
HAROLD TRINKUNAS
The world’s seventh-largest economy needs a foreign policy that matches rhetoric with capabilities.

Re-Thinking the OAS: A Forum
Latin America specialists share their perspectives on the organization’s future—and on whether it has one. Commentaries by Pia Riggirozzi, Andrew F. Cooper, Rodrigo Páez Montalbán, Jessica Byron, and Oliver Stuenkel.

Putin’s Game
DIANA NEGROPONTE
The Russians are coming—again.

Russo-Latin American Arms Sales
DIANA NEGROPONTE
Should we be worried about Russian arms sales in the region?

Venezuela: Foreign Policy After Chávez
VICTOR M. MIJARES
Falling oil prices have narrowed President Nicolás Maduro’s options. Will they change his world view?

Charticle: Hot or Not?
SARAH BONS
Border conflicts in the Americas.

The Academic-Policy Divide
RUSSELL CRANDALL
Scholars have less influence over Washington policymaking than they like to think.

Mexico Looks South
RAFAEL FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTRO
Mexico’s foreign policy agenda in Central America.

AQ UPFRONT

Harsher Prison Sentences Don’t Curb Crime
JORGE KAWAS
The region’s tough-on-crime policies have failed. It’s time for serious penal and judicial reforms that address rehabilitation as well as punishment.

A Conflict of Principles
ANTONIA STOLPER
What’s next in the standoff between Argentina and the U.S. courts? Reverberations from Judge Thomas Griesa’s ruling on Argentine debt continue.

DEPARTMENTS

Panorama: Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants (and best chefs), a spotlight on patron saint festivals across the region, the film Casa Grande explores class in Brazil, 10 Things To Do in Yucatán, color runners turn out on the hemisphere’s streets, and more.

Innovators: Favianna Rodriguez harnesses art to immigrant’s dreams. Carlos Cruz investigates Mexican gang killings. Arlindo and Caio Guimaraes run the Amazon’s first craft brewery. Mejoremos Guate links Guatemala’s Indigenous people with businesses.

Hard Talk: Can renewable energy be the answer for PetroCaribe’s imperiled members? Leopoldo Martínez Nucete and Anton Edmunds debate.

Dispatches from the Field: Glenn Cheney on the life-and-death struggle of Indigenous Tenharim to preserve their land and their resources.

Policy Updates: Mathieu Tromme and Miguel Angel Lara Otaola on fighting Mexican corruption. Eve Crowley on family farming and food security.

Fresh Look Reviews: Mariano E. Bertucci on Latin America’s “new era” of regionalism. Juan Luis Dammert examines resource extraction and protest in Peru.

Just the Numbers: Facelift or buttock augmentation? Cosmetic surgery in the Americas.