Latin America is becoming more important in the world community, a fact which can be seen subregionally in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The next decade will see the continuation of important geopolitical changes: the continued growth of strong and effective national governments, the competition for resources, the resurgence of traditional rivalries and border tensions, and the diffusion of military power to include the possibility of nuclear proliferation. In addition, Latin America will be less and less beholden to the policy preferences of the United States. Indeed, multipolarity will engender a loosening of traditional alignments that will grant greater flexibility to the Latin Americans. The region's increasing importance requires developing a new framework for a meaningful dialogue on the substantive issues of Inter-American security in its broadest sense, economic as well as military. (Author).

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