| Synopsis: |
Because of rising popular expectations regarding currently nonexistent rights in Latin America, it appears to be a revolutionary, insurgent, criminal, and populist dream. Thus, the Americas appear to be particularly susceptible to state (and their proxies) and nonstate actors that promise the security, stability, and prosperity national governments have generally failed to provide. Accordingly, Venezuela and President Hugo Chavez have become exporters of asymmetric, unconventional, and undeclared war. If left ignored and unchecked, these wars compel radical, unwanted, and epochal political-economic-social system change. Even though prudent governments must prepare for high-risk, low probability conventional interstate war, there is a high probability that the U.S. President and Congress and leaders of other powers around the world will continue to require civil-military participation in unconventional conflicts. |