The 2009 V Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, held April 17-19, 2009, raised high expectations regarding the possibility for coordinated hemispheric responses to a host of urgent problems: the deepening global financial crisis, the growing threat posed by organized crime, climate change, and ongoing disagreements over trade and migration issues. On April 3, 2009, just prior to the Summit, the Latin American Program hosted a panel discussion to reflect on the meaning of the V Summit of the Americas as a forum for addressing the hemisphere's most pressing problems.