Americas Program

A leading source of ideas defining the future of national security, analyzing geopolitical trends, and addressing key political, economic, and social challenges facing the region

The Program was established with the clear, forward-looking mission to elevate the policy discussion on the Western Hemisphere. The program aims to influence through timely, practical, and insightful analysis and policy recommendations for partners in the United States and the region.

The Americas Program focuses on six thematic priorities:

  1. The authoritarian regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba as well as democratic backsliding in other countries as a driver of regional instability.
  2. Economic development, strengthening supply chains, forging closer trade linkages between the United States and the region, and nearshoring critical industries.
  3. The long-term impact of China’s rise, the continued relevance of Russia and other extra-hemispheric powers, in a region shaped by strategic rivalry.
  4. Security, especially transnational criminal organizations and illicit economies, particularly in Mexico, the Northern Triangle, and Colombia.
  5. Governance challenges and their effects, including weak rule of law, endemic corruption, migration, inequality, and human rights violations.
  6. Civil-military relations and defense cooperation.

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Featured Analysis

Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Effects of the Trump Administration’s Tariff Threats Against Canada and Mexico

CSIS Americas Deputy Director and Senior Fellow Christopher Hernandez-Roy describes how U.S. rhetoric and trade threats are causing Canada and Mexico to rethink their relationship with their neighbor.

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Commentary by Christopher Hernandez-Roy — March 31, 2025

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2014 Global Forecast


After a dozen years of war, the 2008 financial crisis, budgetary contraction inside government, and growing political polarization, U.S. security policy stands at a crossroads as America finds itself lacking a durable political consensus on the nation’s role in the world.

Report by Craig Cohen, Josiane Gabel, Kathleen H. Hicks, Jon Alterman, David Berteau, Ernest Bower, Samuel Brannen, Victor Cha, Heather Conley, Jennifer Cooke, Zack Cooper, Anthony Cordesman, Ralph Cossa, Matthew Goodman, Michael Green, John Hamre, Murray Hiebert, Christopher Johnson, Andrew Kuchins, and Sarah Ladislaw, Robert Lamb, Maren Leed, James Lewis, Haim Malka, Carl Meacham, Scott Miller, Stephen Morrison, Clark Murdock, Aram Nerguizian, Daniel Runde, Sharon Squassoni, Johanna Nesseth Tuttle, Juan Zarate — November 1, 2013