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.

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

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.

The unquiet legacy of foreign intervention still casts a long shadow over U.S. policy in Indochina.

Today, member countries number 125 (nearly the whole world except China, some former communist countries, and a number of small nations) and WTO rules apply to over 90 percent of international trade.

The international community, which failed to act when the crisis began, now faces a major challenge in Burundi and, more widely, in Central Africa.