Category: South America

From transactional to territorial: The evolution of Mexican drug cartels and the challenge to state sovereignty

Modern Mexican cartels like The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) elicit characteristics that have a functional resemblance to a state: such as exerting territorial control, a monopoly on violence, enforcement of the law, systematic taxation and the provision of social services to their populations. The organisational behaviour of modern Mexican drug cartels has shifted away from drug trafficking. What sparked this change? … Continue readingFrom transactional to territorial: The evolution of Mexican drug cartels and the challenge to state sovereignty

Intervention vs Isolation: Paradoxical Logic in Trumpian Foreign Policy?

Predicted to be an isolationist president, Trump has since demonstrated the unpredictability of his foreign policy directions. Is Trump pivoting to a more interventionist approach from what was promised, or has he always been aiming to retain a large military presence? If so, how can we identify a pattern in this seemingly abstract picture? … Continue readingIntervention vs Isolation: Paradoxical Logic in Trumpian Foreign Policy?

The Dictator’s Ghost: The Cold War Network Still Haunting South America 

1976. In the cold streets of Buenos Aires, an estimated 300 academics, activists, trade unionists and journalists are taken from an ordinary van into a nondescript garage named Automotores Orletti in the dead of night. People scream, never to be heard again. Fifty years on. The nondescript garage still stands; however, the sound of the screams are replaced with a deafening silence. … Continue readingThe Dictator’s Ghost: The Cold War Network Still Haunting South America 

Empire Strikes Back: Imperialism as the Final Frontier of the United States

The United States has long been losing global power to China, as Beijing challenges Western dominance by leveraging strategic pressure points such as Venezuela, Greenland, and Iran. Imperialism becomes the final frontier of a falling hegemon, a move arising out of diplomatic insecurity, not power. As such, it can be concluded that such interventions globally sends a single message across nations, about the uncertain fate of the global order. … Continue readingEmpire Strikes Back: Imperialism as the Final Frontier of the United States

The Neo-Monroe Doctrine: Post-Maduro Venezuela and a New Age of American Interventionism

Reports of low-flying aircraft and explosions over Caracas, Venezuela, hit Australian media in the early evening, and quickly, it was all over. For many international commentators, leaders, and political figures, this intervention in Venezuela was not just shocking, but unprecedented. However, such American interventionism in Latin America has a history that precedes Trump, and is representative of a renewed age of superpower intervention in geopolitics. The real question is, what comes next? … Continue readingThe Neo-Monroe Doctrine: Post-Maduro Venezuela and a New Age of American Interventionism

THE WORST IS YET TO COME IF WE DON’T ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY – AN UPDATE ON DISPLACEMENT CRISES AND ATTITUDES TO MIGRATION ACROSS THE WORLD

At the close of 2020,the UNHCR predicted that the number of displaced persons would, for the first time in history, reach 82.4 million people. The twenty-first century has seen many factors that have contributed to the number of peoples displaced; a global pandemic, climate change, economic crises, a surge in nationalist foreign policies, harsher border policies and domestic as well as interstate conflict. Many people have been left uprooted and unable to stay in their own homes, sometimes even their own country. … Continue readingTHE WORST IS YET TO COME IF WE DON’T ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY – AN UPDATE ON DISPLACEMENT CRISES AND ATTITUDES TO MIGRATION ACROSS THE WORLD

The Green Promises of Electric Vehicles

It has long been recognised that electric vehicles will play a key role in achieving low-carbon economies. Their role warrants particular emphasis as world leaders prepare to assemble in Glasgow for COP26 with the intention of reaffirming emission reduction targets.

However, as Jeremy Yves demonstrates, the rise of electric vehicles comes with a range of environmental and social problems which may counteract their purported benefits and require greater consideration.

This article is the third in a series of articles focusing on environmental policy and politics in the lead up to the COP26 Summit. … Continue readingThe Green Promises of Electric Vehicles

Posted on by Jeremy Yves

A UNITED VISION FOR SOUTH AMERICA – WILL THE UNASUR SURVIVE?

With the announcement of Colombia’s withdrawal from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), there are now five other countries who are considering following Colombia by officially leaving the supra-national organisation. UNASUR was formed in 2008 and entered into force in 2011. This process was … Continue readingA UNITED VISION FOR SOUTH AMERICA – WILL THE UNASUR SURVIVE?