In this expanded and updated edition of the story of the struggles over the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy toward Central America, Cynthia Arnson incorporates substantial amounts of new primary source and recently declassified material coming out of the Iran-contra trials and other Freedom of Information Act requests. She also includes an entirely new chapter that carries the story of the Nicaragua and El Salvador policy debates to the end of the Bush administration.
"Higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded dramatically in the past 15 years, as the average gross enrollment rate has more than doubled, and many new institutions and programs have been opened. Although higher education access has become more equitable, and higher education supply has become more varied, many of the 'new' students in the system are, on average, less academically ready than are their more advantaged counterparts. Furthermore, only half of higher education students, on average, complete their degree, and labor market returns to higher education vary greatly across institutions and programs. Thus, higher education is at a crossroads today. Given the region's urgency to raise productivity in a low-growth, fiscally constrained environment, going past this crossroads requires the formation of skilled human capital fast and efficiently. 'At a Crossroads: Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean' contributes to the discussion by studying quality, variety, and equity of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book presents comprehensive evidence on the recent higher education expansion and evolution of higher education labor market returns. Using novel data and state-of-the-art methods, it studies demand and supply drivers of the recent expansion. It investigates the behavior of institutions and students and explores the unintended consequences of large-scale higher education policies. Framing the analysis are the singular characteristics of the higher education market and the market segmentation induced by the variety of students and institutions in the system. At this crossroads, a role emerges for incentives, information, accountability, and choice."
Presents a critique of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy, arguing that it stemmed from misconceptions about the realities of the situation in Iraq and a squandering of the goodwill of American allies following September 11th.
In Crossroads of Intervention, Todd Greentree argues that there are many valuable lessons to be learned about the nature of irregular warfare from the experiences of the United States in Central America during the final decade of the Cold War. This first comprehensive Strategy and policy analysis of U.S. intervention in Central America examines the origins, dynamics, and termination of the Sandinista insurrection in Nicaragua, the Salvadoran government's decade-long Conuterinsurgency against the FMLN, and the Contra insurgency against the Sandinistas. Greentree establishes the historical, political, and conceptual relationship between U.S. involvement in the Central American, wars, the Vietnam War and the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, while laying the foundation for an expanded understanding of the fundamental and recurring nature of insurgency, and intervention. U.S. involvement in Central America during the 1280s clearly demonstrates the costs, risks, and limits of intervention and the use of force in internal conflicts. The consequences of such involvement, he warns, must not be forgotten. Hispanic Heritage Month Reading List.
Latin America is at a crossroads. The "golden age" inaugurated with the turn of the new millennium seems a faint memory. Economies that had grown at a steady pace are now slowing down, while some are in freefall. Politically, the "pink tide" of populist movements is now ebbing. From Brazil to Venezuela, from Argentina to Bolivia, left-leaning leaders across the region seem to have lost their bond with the people. Their promises of an equitable society through an apparently never-ending redistribution of wealth crashed against the reality of shortsighted and unsustainable policies. Political and social turmoil are heralding an era of changes and – maybe – of new opportunities for Latin America. And this 'great transformation' is precisely what this volume is all about. Where is it leading to? Does it mark the beginning of a new age? Which lessons can be learnt from the past? Leading international scholars and experts scratch beneath the surface of Latin America's current crisis to have a clearer glimpse of what the future holds and draw policy recommendations, especially for the EU.
In this expanded and updated edition of the story of the struggles over the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy toward Central America, Cynthia Arnson incorporates substantial amounts of new primary source and recently declassified material coming out of the Iran-contra trials and other Freedom of Information Act requests. She also includes an entirely new chapter that carries the story of the Nicaragua and El Salvador policy debates to the end of the Bush administration.
