by Julia Sweig
First published 2004
The Center for Preventive Action faces a crisis. After twenty years and billions of dollars spent fighting drugs and insurgency across Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, the Andean democracies teeter on collapse. Regional chaos threatens American hemispheric goals. The Andes 2020 Preventive Action Commission assembles senior experts from government, military, academia, and international organizations to forge new solutions. They discover that America's narrow focus on counternarcotics and security has failed catastrophically. The commission argues for a complete reallocation of financial and political commitments. Their recommendations span sustainable rural development, strategic land reform, political reforms strengthening rule of law, expanded market access for the poor, and multilateral counterdrug policies addressing consumer demand. The stakes could not be higher as violence escalates and democratic institutions crumble throughout the region.
Genres: international-relations, political-science, 21st-century, current-affairs, academic, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: crisis, preventive-action, reallocation
Setting: Andes, America, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Period: 2020
134 pages · Paperback · Council on Foreign Relations Press
Content warnings: violence