Home : Regional Issues
Regional Issues
The resource rich, land-locked South American nation of Bolivia has traditionally received limited attention from Washington. The country, historically mired in poverty, corruption, and cycles of political conflict is one of the hemisphere’s major sources for coca and illegally mined gold, as well as a transit country for both. Bolivia’s leftist populist Movement for Socialism (MAS) governments of Evo Morales and Luis Arce have made the country an important point of entry into the hemisphere for extra-hemispheric U.S. rivals including the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and Iran. In recent weeks, a power struggle has emerged for control of the MAS between current President Luis Arce and former President Evo Morales. This has implications for the stability of the country as it plays out in the context of crosscutting political rivalries, economic difficulties, and a significant criminal economy with competing interests. This work examines the deteriorating situation in Bolivia and the potential implications for the region. Image adapted from: https://theglobalamericans.org/2023/11/bolivias-descent-into-deep-chaos-and-the-implications-for-the-region/
South & Latin America | Nov. 22, 2023

Bolivia’s Descent into Deep Chaos and the Implications for the Region

R. Evan Ellis The resource rich, land-locked South American nation of Bolivia has traditionally received limited attention from Washington. The country, historically mired in poverty, corruption, and cycles of political conflict is one of the

South & Latin America | Oct. 13, 2023

Implications of the Hamas Terror Attacks and the Israeli Response on Lat...

R. Evan Ellis IntroductionMy heart goes out to the almost 1,000 Israelis brutally slaughtered by Hamas on October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks this week. Few not actually living this moment in Israel, and certainly not me, can truly understand the


R. Evan Ellis  This work uses the comparative method, complemented by quantitative data, to examine engagement by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Latin America as a function of government type, across a range of activities, including trade, investment, infrastructure projects, security relations, and technical architectures over the past two decades. The findings indicate that the PRC establishes distinct and often broader forms of engagement with populist, anti-US governments, although this does not necessarily translate into a higher volume of PRC investment or overall trade with those governments. This is the first major work in the growing China–Latin America literature to explicitly analyze the dynamics of PRC engagement across regime type. It contributes to strategic analysis of the PRC challenge in the region by the operational force, including the identification of risks, and the formulation of responses, including credible messaging, in support of a coordinated whole-of-government response to the PRC challenge. Read now: The Impact of the Turn to the Left on the Advance of the People’s Republic of China in Latin Image adapted from FreePik (https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/coronavirus-map_7456298.htm)
South & Latin America | Oct. 5, 2023

The Impact of the Turn to the Left on the Advance of the People’s Republ...

R. Evan Ellis This work uses the comparative method, complemented by quantitative data, to examine engagement by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Latin America as a function of government type, across a range of activities, including trade,

2023 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment The Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment serves as a guide for academics and practitioners in the defense community on the current challenges and opportunities in the strategic environment. This year’s publication outlines key strategic issues across the four broad themes of Regional Challenges and Opportunities, Domestic Challenges, Institutional Challenges, and Domains Impacting US Strategic Advantage. These themes represent a wide range of topics affecting national security and provide a global assessment of the strategic environment to help focus the defense community on research and publication. Strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China and the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remain dominant challenges to US national security interests across the globe. However, the evolving security environment also presents new and unconventional threats, such as cyberattacks, terrorism, transnational crime, and the implications of rapid technological advancements in fields such as artificial intelligence. At the same time, the US faces domestic and institutional challenges in the form of recruiting and retention shortfalls in the all-volunteer force, the prospect of contested logistics in large-scale combat operations, and the health of the US Defense Industrial Base. Furthermore, rapidly evolving security landscapes in the Arctic region and the space domain pose unique potential challenges to the Army’s strategic advantage. https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/962/
Publications | Aug. 24, 2023

2023 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment

The United States operates within a global context that is increasingly complex, interconnected, and unpredictable. The Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment serves as a guide to define broadly the contemporary security landscape and
Parameters VOL. 46 NO. 3 Autumn 2016
September 30, 2016
Cover for Parameters VOL. 46 NO. 3 AUTUMN 2016

An Arab NATO in the Making? Middle Eastern Military Cooperation Since 2011
September 1, 2016
Cover for An Arab NATO in the Making? Middle Eastern Military Cooperation Since 2011

Strategic Insights: The Post-Conflict and the Transformation of Colombia’s Armed Forces
August 17, 2016
Cover for Strategic Insights: The Post-Conflict and the Transformation of Colombia’s Armed Forces

The Army War College Review Vol. 2 No. 3
August 1, 2016
Cover for The Army War College Review Vol. 2 No. 3

Strategic Insights: The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Taliban
August 1, 2016
Cover for Strategic Insights: The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Taliban

The Pivot to Asia: Can it Serve as the Foundation for American Grand Strategy in the 21st Century
August 1, 2016
Monograph Cover - Red

Investigating the Benefits and Drawbacks of Realigning the National Guard Under the Department of Homeland Security
August 1, 2016
Monograph Cover - Indigo

Cyberspace: Malevolent Actors, Criminal Opportunities, and Strategic Competition
August 1, 2016
Cover for Cyberspace: Malevolent Actors, Criminal Opportunities, and Strategic Competition

2016-17 Key Strategic Issues List
July 1, 2016
Cover for 2016-17 Key Strategic Issues List

Taking the Fight to the Enemy: Chinese Thinking about Long-Distance and Expeditionary Operations
July 1, 2016
Cover of Taking the Fight to the Enemy: Chinese Thinking about Long-Distance and Expeditionary Operations