11th Annual US-Mexico Security Conference: Preventing and Combating Illicit Trade

Wednesday, Feb. 28 // 10–11:15 am (ET)

Illicit trade between the US and Mexico, whether it be drugs heading northward or arms trafficked southward, claims tens of thousands of lives annually on both sides of the border. Homicide rates in Mexico are at record highs and drug overdoses in the US have increased at an astonishing rate over the past 25 years. To finance this chaos, billions of dollars are laundered between the two countries every year. Coordinating to prevent this type of crime is more than just the obligation of good neighbors: it is critical to the broader economic and security landscape of the region.

Join us for this first panel of our 11th Annual US-Mexico Security Conference where panelists will discuss topics including the diversity of goods passing between the US and Mexico, and strategies to combat and unravel these networks.

Still to Come this week

Germany in the World: A Global History, 1500-2000

Monday, Feb. 26 // 4–5:30 pm (ET)

Germany in the World challenges readers to reexamine German history of the last five hundred years from a global perspective. Viewed through this lens, familiar landmarks appear in a different light and unfamiliar aspects appear, like the “German Atlantic”. David Blackbourn’s book, which interweaves geopolitics, culture, economics, and movements of people, transcends the conventional boundaries of modern German history, taking readers from the Australian bush to Shanghai, German scientists in Siberia to America’s “Little Germanys”.

Kennan Long View Series | The Political Landscape in Russia

Wednesday, Feb. 28 // 11:00 am–12:00 pm (ET)

In this Long View conversation, Michael Kimmage interviews Maria Lipman about the political landscape in Russia. One story line is the March 2024 presidential election in Russia and its significance both for Vladimir Putin and for the Russian population. Another story line is incorporation of the war in Ukraine into the status quo of domestic Russian politics—the militarization of society this has caused and at the same time the maintenance of a dividing line between what Russia does abroad and how people live within Russia. Finally, Lipman and Kimmage will discuss those aspects of Russian political life that are not in lockstep with the Kremlin, that register discontent with the war and that point to future points of tension within the Russian body politic.

A Conversation with Interior Minister Mónica Palencia on Ecuador’s Security Crisis

Thursday, Feb. 29 // 11:00 am–12:00 pm (ET)

Join the Latin America Program for a special conversation with Ecuador’s interior minister, Mónica Palencia, on Ecuador’s security strategy, including proposed legal reforms, and the role of the international community in addressing transnational crime in the Americas.