Professor Richard Feinberg on the Summit of the Americas
"A meeting of minds in the Americas"
04/17/2009
Richard Feinberg,
San Diego Union-Tribune
When the president of the United States huddles with 33 other hemispheric leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago today, how should we judge its success or failure? What are reasonable benchmarks for such large multilateral meetings?
If you are expecting the clashes of armies, history-shaking accords or Shakira's hips, you will inevitably be disappointed. More modestly and realistically, here are some still significant goals that this fifth Americas Summit can hope to achieve. To begin, such summits focus a new U.S. administration on the Western Hemisphere. This is no modest achievement, in light of the multiple pressures to focus on Iraq/Afghanistan and the global financial crisis, not to mention the national stimulus package and other urgent domestic needs.
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