Publications

Wilson Center Reports on the Americas Democratic Deficits: Addressing Challenges to Sustainability and Consolidation Around the World- #21 Author: Gary Bland and Cynthia Arnson, editors This book comparatively explores the obstacles countries face in sustaining and consolidating democratic systems. Topics include social services, poverty, and inequality, specific case studies, and how government policy and development practices improve the quality of life of citizens in democratic regimes. Download File (pdf) La "nueva izquierda " en América Latina: Derechos humanos, participación política, y sociedad civil Author: Compilado por Cynthia J. Arnson, Ariel C. Armony, Catalina Smulovitz, Gastón Chillier, Enrique Peruzzotti, con Giselle Cohen This book explores the phenomenon of leftist governments in Latin America from the perspective of human rights and civic participation. Topics include accountability for past violations, new challenges in promoting human rights, political participation and civil state society, and social politics and civil society. Download File (pdf) Reforma de las fuerzas armadas en América Latina y el impacto de las amenazas irregulares #20 Author: Lilian Bobea, Oscar Bonilla, Lucía Dammert, Rut Diamint, Carlos Basombrío Iglesias, Oswaldo Jarrín R., Raúl Benítez Manuat, Eliézer Rizzo de Oliviera, Gabriel Aguilera Peralta Regional experts address security sector reforms in light of the increasingly unconventional and transnational nature of the threats affecting Latin America. Download File (pdf) New Voices in the Study of Democracy in Latin America #19 Author: Guillermo O’Donnell, Joseph S. Tulchin, and Augusto Varas, eds. with Adam Stubits Download File (pdf) Seguridad ciudadana en las Américas: Proyecto de investigación activa # 18 Author: Jessica Varat, ed. The latest publication in the Reports on the Americas series, this book is a compilation of field reports from a team of citizen security experts working in the region. Their most recent research, presented in this report, evaluates specific instances of citizen participation in local security initiatives in five countries and presents a comparative analysis of the results. Download File (pdf) Democracia y ciudadanía #17 Participación ciudadana y deliberación pública en gobiernos locales mexicanos This publication is the result of a meeting which took place in Mexico City in June 2004. Participants from Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and the United States sought to understand the theoretical possibilities and the practical achievements of citizen participation and public deliberation in local governments in Mexico. Download File (pdf) Cambios en la sociedad Cubana desde los noventa #16 Author: Editado por Joseph S. Tulchin, Lilian Bobea, Mayra P. Espina Prieto y Rafael Hernández con la colaboración de Elizabeth Bryan Download File (pdf) Changes in Cuban Society since the Nineties #15 Author: Edited by Joseph S. Tulchin, Lilian Bobea, Mayra P. Espina Prieto and Rafael Hernández with Elizabeth Bryan This book aims to provide academics, policymakers, NGOs and the media in Cuba, Latin America and North America, with a better understanding of the changes in Cuban civil society since the collapse of the Soviet Union and their implications in the areas of research, academic and literary production, and public policy. It presents and assesses critically the changes that have taken place in Cuban society, economy, politics, and culture as Cuba emerges from the crisis of the 1990s. This volume also aspires to contribute in a meaningful way to the political debate in the United States and to the dialogue between the United States and Cuba. It brings together contrasting perspectives marked by occasionally opposing views from both within and outside the island. It is the result of a seminar held in the Dominican Republic in December 2003 under the auspices of the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Facultad Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales, with the generous contribution of The Ford Foundation. Download File (pdf) Mercosur and the Creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas #14 Summary and examination of negotiations aimed at the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, with special attention to the positions of Mercosur countries. Download File (pdf) The Peace Process in Colombia with the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia-AUC #13 Author: Cynthia J. Arnson, ed. In July 2003, the government of President Álvaro Uribe took the unprecedented step of opening formal peace talks with the AUC. Although close to 900 paramilitary fighters demobilized last year, issues such as paramilitary involvement in drug trafficking and accountability for human rights abuses have raised controversy in Colombia and abroad. The Wilson Center hosted a conference to explore key issues in the Government-AUC peace talks, the prospects for an eventual negotiated settlement, and the key challenges ahead. This publication is the collection of papers that resulted from this conference. For more information, including video of the event, see the Event Summary. Download File (pdf) Decentralization and Democratic Governance in Latin America - #12 Author: Joseph S. Tulchin and Andrew Selee, editors This volume explores one of the crucial intersections of political and economic change: how the reform of the central state in the form of policies of decentralization has affected democratic governance in different countries and at different levels of society. The book is a product of a two-year project on decentralization which included both national-level and comparative research on decentralization. Two scholars from each of five countries (Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Mexico) met at the outset of the project to present papers and to discuss the experiences of their countries comparatively. Later, each team organized a national forum on decentralization and democratic governance that included scholars; national, regional, and local government officials; civil society representatives; and representatives of the business community. In light of these debates and the comparative discussion amoung the research team, the participating researchers revised their papers for this volume. Download File (pdf) Mexico and the New Challenges of Hemispheric Security - #11 Author: Raúl Benítez Manaut The essays in this book center on the debate over competing approaches to hemispheric security and how different countries, specifically Mexico, formulate their security policies in the broader context of multilateral hemispheric initiatives and of bilateral relations with the United States. A goal of this book is to spark debate on how to formulate policies which promote a community of security in the Americas while balancing national interests in the region. This book is the product of research done by Raúl Benítez-Manaut project during his residency as a Public Policy Scholar in the Latin American Program. Download File (pdf) Argentina-US Bilateral Relations: Past and Present - #10 Author: Cynthia J. Arnson and Tamara P. Taraciuk On December 4, 2003, the Latin American Program and the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales co-sponsored a second conference on “Argentina-United States Bilateral Relations: An Historical Perspective and Future Challenges,” held at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. The first panel dealt with the current Argentina-US bilateral relations and the future challenges. The panelists discussed US-Argentina bilateral relations during Néstor Kirchner’s presidency. The second panel evaluated a new perspective on Argentina-US bilateral relations, given the declassification of 4677 documents about the dirty war period that were kept in the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. The declassification was ordered by the State Department on August 20, 2002; and new documents were then declassified in November 2003. This book contains an edited version of the panelists’ presentations. Panelists included John Dinges, Columbia University; Carlos Osorio, National Security Archive; Horacio Verbitsky, CELS; Ariel Armony, Colby College; Agustín Colombo Sierra, Argentine Ministry of Foreign Relations; Roberto Russell, Torcuato Di Tella University; Mark Falcoff, American Enterprise Institute; and Diana Tussie FLACSO – Argentina. The book was launched in Buenos Aires on May 2004; during a conference on these issues held in Argentina. You can download the book's table of contents, preface, and introduction. Please contact the Latin American Program if you are interested in a copy of the book. Download File (pdf) Religion, Culture, and Society: The Case of Cuba - #9 Author: Margaret E. Crahan, editor In an effort to better understand the interaction of religion, culture and society in Cuba, as well as elsewhere, participants at the conference that produced this publication explored the applicability of the predominant analytical models used to comprehend the interaction of these three elements. This was accompanied by a parallel exploration of concepts of civil society in both socialist and non-socialist societies, together with a review of the history of associationalism in Cuba and the impact of diasporas on Cuban identity. The impact of transnational links, both past and present, on the role of religions in Cuba was also analyzed in several presentations. While the seminar focused primarily on Catholicism, attention was also paid to Protestantism, Judaism, and Spiritism given their contributions to the molding of Cuban culture and society. Download File (pdf) Argentina-United States Bilateral Relations: An Historical Perspective and Future Challenges - #8 Author: Cynthia J. Arnson, ed. On March 5, 2003, the Latin American Program and the Cold War International History Project held a conference on “Argentina-United States Bilateral Relations: An Historical Perspective and Future Challenges.” The first panel dealt with the current Argentina-US bilateral relations and the future challenges. The panelists discussed the US-Argentina tight alliance during the Carlos Menem Administration, its effects on the country’s position in international affairs, and possible internal and foreign policies to increase Argentina’s relevance in the international arena. The second panel evaluated a new perspective on Argentina-US bilateral relations, given the declassification of 4677 documents about the dirty war period that were kept in the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. This book contains an edited version of the panelists presentations. To download a .pdf of this publication, or for more information on this meeting, see the Argentina @ the Wilson Center publications page. Repensando la Argentina: Antes de diciembre de 2001 y más allá de mayo de 2003 - #7 Author: Compilado por Ariel C. Armony y Hector E. Schamis con Giselle Cohen On April 3, 2003, the Argentina Project together with two Argentine scholars at the Woodrow Wilson Center organized a meeting to discuss the current situation in Argentina. The idea of the seminar was to evaluate the country’s situation, not only considering the economic and political chaos surrounding Fernando de la Rua’s resignation in December 2001; and to present alternative avenues to reconstruct Argentine economy and society. The participants discussed economic policies, Argentina’s position in world affairs, Argentine democracy and political parties, culture, education, human rights and civil society. The open discussion led to this publication, which is an edited version of the conversation that took place at the Wilson Center. To download a .pdf of this publication, see the Argentina @ the Wilson Center publications page. El Salvador's Democratic Transition Ten Years After the Peace Accord - #6 Author: Edited by Cynthia J. Arnson On January 16, 1992, El Salvador’s government and guerrillas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed a sweeping and historic peace agreement that put an end to a brutal twelve-year armed conflict. Ten years later, on January 20, 2002, the Latin American Program held a conference to evaluate the years since the signing of the accord in political and economic terms. The goal of the conference was to assess the nature of the democratic transition and related socio-economic developments in the post-war era. Analysts pointed to central and enduring political achievements of the peace agreement, as well as to persistent difficulties rooted in the nature of El Salvador’s multiple and simultaneous transitions. Download File (pdf) Paths to Regional Integration: The Case of MERCOSUR - #5 Author: Edited by Joseph S. Tulchin and Ralph H. Espach, with Heather A. Golding On November 9, 2000, the Latin American Program hosted a conference that brought together key policymakers and analysts from Latin America and the United States to discuss the implications of regional integration, drawing on the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) as a case study. This volume includes several papers presented at the conference that address MERCOSUR's development, economic and political importance, and efforts to effect a "relaunching" of the common market enterprise. Download File (pdf) Environment and Security in the Amazon Basin - #4 Author: Edited by Joseph S. Tulchin and Heather A. Golding In collaboration with the Environmental Change and Security Project , the Latin American Program hosted a series of three conferences during the Spring of 2000 that brought together select groups of experts and policymakers to discuss issues such as: environmental and sustainable initiatives in the Amazon Basin; the roles of local, national, and international actors; Brazil's national security agenda in relation to the Amazon Basin; and the rising threat of international drug trafficking. This volume is a compilation of papers presented at these conferences. Its aim is to provide insights into the complex and politically delicate security and environmental questions at stake in the Amazon Basin. To download a .pdf of this publication, see the Brazil @ the Wilson Center publications page. Training a New Generation of Leaders - #3 Author: Edited by Joan Dassin, Joseph S. Tulchin, and Amelia Brown To assess the state of public policy education in Latin America, the Wilson Center launched a research project to survey the institutional capacity for graduate level training in public policy in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and the United States. This publication is the result of that eighteen-month activity, and offers an overview of public policy education in Latin America while providing a groundwork for future efforts to improve its quality in the region. Download File (pdf) The Crisis of Democratic Governance in the Andes - #2 Author: Edited by Cynthia J. Arnson In June 2000, the Latin American Program convened a distinguished group of experts on the Andean region to consider the multiple threats to democratic governance in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. In this publication, these experts reveal that countries in the Andean region suffer from common and deep problems of governance: crisis of citizenship, reflected in widespread apathy and low levels of participation in the political process; the decline of political parties; corruption and a lack of accountability of civilian as well as military elites; weak institutions; and the military's involvement in politics. Download File (pdf) Mexico in Transition - #1 Author: Edited by Andrew D. Selee In May 2000, the Latin American Program and Yale University held a conference, "Mexico at the Millenium," to assess the profound transformations underway in Mexico and in U.S.-Mexico relations. This volume offers several of the presentations from this conference which address three areas of concern: political and social transition in Mexico; new directions in economic policy; and the changing nature of U.S.-Mexico relations. Download File (pdf)

Latin American Program
Woodrow Wilson Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004-3027
Email: lap@wilsoncenter.org
Tel: 202/691-4030