Washington, D.C. — No other region on the planet more greatly affects and is more greatly affected by the United States than the Americas. The region is the destination for more than 40 percent of U.S. exports, the source of 65 percent of U.S. energy imports, and the region of origin or heritage for 17 percent of the U.S. population. No other region is so ingrained in the United States’ success and existence, which is why policies that would distance the United States from this critical region would be fruitless and disastrous.
The Center for American Progress released a report looking at the relationship between the United States and its closest neighbors and partners in the world: the countries of the Americas. The report makes five big recommendations that the next administration can follow to create a positive, affirmative agenda that focuses on the increasing global engagement of countries in the region and the deep interconnectivity that binds the United States with the rest of the Americas.
“The countries of the Americas are our closest neighbors and some of our strongest trading partners. The relationship between the United States and this region is critical to our short- and long-term success,” said Dan Restrepo, CAP Senior Fellow and co-author of the report. “The United States is so connected to this region that attempts to wall off the United States from it would not only be an enormous mistake, it would be practically impossible, no matter how hard some politicians attempt to do so.”
The report lays out five ways the next administration can have a meaningful partnership within the Americas:
- Embrace the fact that the countries of the Americas have global connections and goals—in short, that they are not the United States’ backyard
- Leverage the powerful people-to-people connectivity that exists between the United States and the rest of the countries of the Americas to advance U.S. regional interests and influence
- Promote the security of citizens of the Americas to ensure that pervasive violence, related in part to transnational organized crime, does not disrupt regional interests—or citizens’ daily lives
- Advance energy and climate cooperation to seize regional clean energy opportunities and band together with the Americas to confront climate change
- Reform the inter-American system to advance key U.S. policy objectives in the Americas
Click here to read the report.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.