Current Policy Issues in US-Latin American Relations
SYLLABUS
Philip C. French, Director
Maxwell School of Public Administration and International Affairs
Syracuse University
Washington, D. C. Center
CSIS Building, 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Room 412
May 17-23, 2015
Required Reading (prior to beginning of May Session)
Peter H. Smith, Talons of the Eagle, Fourth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press,
2013
Sebastian Edwards, Left Behind, The University of Chicago Press, 2010
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel, W.W. Norton & Company New York, 1997, pp
13-25, 67-81 (digital reading folder)
Other reading required for the seminar:
Additional readings for EVERY session below, not listed in the syllabus but contained in a
separate “digital reading folder,” (emailed to Listserve) identified by speaker name.
Written Assignments and grading:
There will be one short in-class assignment, and a final paper due mid-July.
Students will be graded as follows:
Class participation: 25%
In-class assignment: 25%
Final Paper: 50%
Class Sessions:
NOTE: Sessions conducted outside the CSIS building are in red
SUNDAY, MAY 17
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Class session, Maxwell in Washington, 1616 Rhode Island
Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
7:00 pm
Social event at Nando’s Peri Peri
MONDAY, MAY 18
8:30 – 9:00 am
Preview
9:00 – 10:45 a.m.
Unintended Consequences: Security Assistance and
Human Rights in the Andes
10:45 – 11:00 a.m.
Adam Isacson, Senior Associate for Regional Security
Policy, Washington Office on Latin America
Break
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
The End of Insurgency? Colombia’s Peace Process
H.E. Luis Carlos Villegas
Colombian Ambassador to the U.S.
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:30 – 2:00
Review/Preview
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Brazil: Colossus of the South
Dr. Luis Bitencourt
Deputy Director/Professor of National Security Studies
The Perry Center, National Defense University
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Review/Preview
TUESDAY, MAY 19
8:30-9:00 a.m.
Review/Preview
9:00 – 10:45 a.m.
Mexico: Trade, Security, and the U.S.
Diana Villiers Negroponte, Public Policy Scholar,
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
10:45 – 11:00 a.m.
Review/Preview, depart for IAD
11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. .
US And Latin America in the 21st Century
Michael Shifter, President, Inter-American Dialogue
At IAD, 1211 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 510,
Washington, D.C. (walking distance)
12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch, return to CSIS
1:00 – 3:00
U.S. Latin American Trade: A Strategic Approach
Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Council of the
Americas
3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Review/Preview
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Review/Preview
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Intermestic Issues in the World’s Second Largest
Spanish-Speaking Country
Juan Carlos Lopez, Washington D.C. Correspondent and
host, Directo USA news program, CNN en Español
10:30 a.m.
Depart for the National Security Council, 17th St. Entrance
Class Photo before or after NSC
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Central America: The Billion Dollar Security and
Development Plan
Ann E. Pforzheimer, Director for Central America Strategy
Implementation, National Security Council (at the NSC)
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch and return to CSIS
1:30 – 2:00
Review/Preview
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
The Obama Administration and Latin America: A
Critical View
Jose R. Cardenas, former Acting Assistant Administrator
for Latin America, USAID, former NSC staff, former Chief
of Staff and Senior Advisor to Assistant Secretary of State
for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Associate, Vision Americas
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
The Role of Congress in U.S.-Latin America Foreign
Policy
Carl Meacham, Director, Americas Program, CSIS; former
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senior Professional
Staff for Latin America, Senator Richard Lugar
THURSDAY, MAY 21
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Review/ Preview
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Poverty, Growth, and Sustainment
Dr. Ines Bustillo, Director, Washington Office of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean
10:30 a.m. – 11:00
Review
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Argentina and the U.S.
Benjamin Gedan, Desk Officer for Argentina, U.S.
Department of State
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:30 – 2:00
Review/Preview
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
From the Monroe Doctrine to CELAC
Dr. Angelo Rivero Santos, former Chargé d’Affaires,
Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and
Maxwell School alumnus
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Venezuela: How Did We Get Here?
Professor French
FRIDAY, MAY 22
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Review/Preview
9:00 – 10:45 a.m.
The Bush Administration and US-Latin American Policy
Dan Fisk, Chief Operations Officer, International
Republican Institute, former Special Assistant to the
President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere
Affairs, National Security Council
10:45 – 11:00 a.m.
Break
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Obama’s Latin America Strategy
Juan S. Gonzalez, Special Advisor on the Western
Hemisphere, Office of the Vice President
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:30 – 2:00
Review/Preview
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Haiti, the Caribbean, and the U.S.
Ambassador (ret.) Patrick Duddy Director Center for Latin
American & Caribbean Studies, Duke University; former
Ambassador to Venezuela, former Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State, Western Hemisphere Affairs
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Making History: The U.S.-Cuba Rapprochement
Mark Wells, Coordinator, Office of Cuban Affairs, U.S.
Department of State
SATURDAY, MAY 23
9:00-10:30 a.m.
Institutions and Issues: Latin America and the U.S. in the
21st Century
Professor French
10:30-10:45 a.m.
Break
10:45-12:00 p.m.
Conclusion