RINCON LATINO: AMOR CON DERECHOS ...

Hoy la Cámara de Diputados votó a anular el plazo de 90 días para aprobar el Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC). La presidenta de la Cámara de Diputados Nancy Pelosi anunció en una rueda de prensa en Washington D.C. que : "Esta decisión tendrá consecuencias negativas para nuestros trabajadores, para Colombia y para la credibilidad de EE.UU. Es una día muy triste para nuestro país." La maniobra de hoy encomendada por el presidente de la nación efectivamente fortalece los vínculos militares, económicos y financieros con Colombia ,cuyo gobierno es el aliado más dominante de los Estados Unidos en América Latina.

A Finer Focus: The Middle East, China and North Korea: An Executive Challenge For the Ages?

Speaking just days ago on the PBS talk program Charlie Rose, ex-Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke boldly claimed the next President's foreign policy agenda to be the most daunting in the country's history. Holbrooke, the architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, attributed his stance to the prospect of two on-going wars (Iraq and Afghanistan), (click here for titles by Holbrooke) the lingering question over Palestine and Israel, the specter of a rapidly growing and powerful China, the recalcitrance of Syria and Iran, and the factor of North Korea. While we're 18 months short of a new administration, it's hard to know who will be making decisions and what sort of engagement policy will be used. Based on your knowledge of what sort of foreign policy terrain Presidents Harry Truman, Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, Woodrow Wilson, and L.B. Johnson have had to tread upon, is Holbrooke correct? There are clearly challenges to peace in today's world, and the following list of sources may help you broaden your knowledge base:

• Books:

Target Iran : the truth about the White House's plans for regime change, Scott Ritter, Nation Books, 2006.

Confronting Iran : the failure of American foreign policy and the next great crisis in the Middle East, Ali Ansari, Basic Books, 2006.

The Persian puzzle : the conflict between Iran and America, Kenneth M. Pollack, Random House, 2004.

Are we Rome? : the fall of an empire and the fate of America, Cullen Murphy, Houghton Mifflin, 2007.

Return to greatness : how America lost its sense of purpose and what it needs to do to recover it, Alan Wolfe, Princeton University Press, 2005.

Fiasco : the American military adventure in Iraq, Thomas E. Ricks, Penguin Press, 2006.

Inventing The Axis Of Evil : The Truth About North Korea, Iran, And Syria, Bruce Cumings, New Press, 2004.

• Web sites:

The Brookings Institute: http://www.brook.edu/

The Rand Corporation: http://www.rand.org/research_areas/international_affairs/

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/

Council for Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/

Heritage Foundation: http://www.heritage.org/