But Will All This Work in Washington?

Every four years the policy community is abuzz with ideas and efforts for the next U.S. president. Discussions of new paradigms, new approaches and new realities dominate the policy world. From the economy to health care, energy and the Middle East, any policy entrepreneur worth his or her salt puts together position papers for the campaigns, the transition teams and for anyone perceived to be close to the candidates.

This ritual also plays out in the hemispheric policy space. Already we have been inundated with think-tank proposals that, at bottom, boil down to the following common denominator: the U.S. must pay more attention to Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada.

That’s not a revelation. Of course, to build our interests in the Americas we need to give more attention to the Americas…