Organized crime’s hold on local governments fuels record election violence; Europe’s cocaine pipeline shifting to the Southern Cone.

Hot winters in the Andes and Southern Cone threaten Latin America’s advantages; Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico aim to ride U.S. semiconductor industrial policy coattails; Colombia’s new ceasefire agreeme…

The Pheu Thai party's initial days in office reveal the compromises it has made to attain power.

In Australia’s China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear, James Curran charts Australia's fluctuating policy toward China.

The RWB index provides a useful tool for comparing media freedom around the continent. It also provides yet another example of the diversity of the African continent. With respect to media freedom, Ghana and South Africa are far removed from Sudan and Eritrea. 

This post features Mark P. Jones, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy’s political science fellow and Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin America Studies at Rice University, and Kellie Meim…