As the country in the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) that leads the effort to seek rapid tariffs reductions, Indonesia is the darling of U.S. export industries.

The Asia/Pacific region is the geopolitical center of the struggle for world power.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sets guidelines for the elimination of most trade and investment barriers between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico over a 15-year period.

The U.S. military did not foresee an end of the cold war and was caught without a new strategy when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Central America’s modern history is marked by widespread poverty, stark inequalities, political instability, and violent repression.

Since the early 1980s Washington has sought to break down all barriers to U.S. trade and investment in Mexico.

The last fifteen years have seen an unprecedented decline in the standard of living of the world’s rural poor, and a related upsurge in both internal and international migration as people search for options.

Since 1994 U.S. statements regarding a newly democratic South Africa, under the leadership of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) have frequently been cast in the language of a love fest.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a wholly owned government corporation established in 1971, provides taxpayer-backed and taxpayer-funded loans, loan guarantees, and insurance to businesses for investments in “politically risky” countries.

Since the end of the cold war, the global proliferation of chemical and biological weapons (CBWs) has become more prominent in U.S. national security and foreign policy planning.

In promoting structural adjustment, the U.S. has concentrated on short-term profits for businesses and narrow diplomatic gain.

The economic crisis in Mexico has dampened enthusiasm in the U.S. for the extension of free-trade agreements throughout the Americas.

The controversy that surrounded North Korea’s incipient nuclear capacity had the fortuitous outcome of engaging the U.S. in direct and fruitful dialogue with the DPRK.

Over the past decade, nuclear weapons have been reduced from 70,000 to 40,000. The U.S. and Russia hold 97% of these remaining nuclear weapons.

Environmentalists expect access to information and broad participation in decisionmaking. In addition to culture, substantive differences divide the trade and environmental communities.

The Clinton administration came into office espousing support for UN peacekeeping. Characterizing his policy as “assertive multilateralism,” President Clinton appeared enthusiastic about the creation of a small UN “quick-deployment force” and seemed unwilling to commit U.S. forces to UN operations.

UN operations are crucial in saving and improving lives throughout the world, especially in the development, social, health, and education arenas.

When war erupted in the former Yugoslavia in 1991, the U.S. kept its distance.