Geheim!

US strategy in Latin America concentrates on the visible assets of Chinese influence: ports, mines, and loans. Yet that influence depends on a human element, and Beijing remains anxious about both the mobility of its people into and through Latin America and the expertise needed to navigate the region. These are the dimensions it finds hardest to manage, and where the US holds advantages that are real but perishable. Converting them into leverage requires deliberate policy, not coercion.

America and its allies need to prepare ways to arrange targeting effectively and carefully.

My first full week of work on Policy Planning began on Monday, September 10, 2001. And that first day did go smoothly. On day two, everything changed.