A Dialogue for the future.

• Position: Organization of American States

LAST MAY, THE WASHINGTON-BASED Inter-American Dialogue hosted a roundtable discussion about the OAS, based on the findings of its own task force report, entitled "Responding to the Hemisphere's Political Challenges." Identifying the critical political issues confronting the Americas, the report discusses what the OAS can and should be doing about them.

Task force chair Fernando Cepeda Ulloa, who served as Colombia's minister of government, and Harriet C. Babbitt, former U.S. ambassador to the OAS, presented the report. Directed by Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, task force members also included George Alleyne, Eduardo del Buey, Jorge I. Domiguez, Richard Fletcher, Diego Garcia-Sayan, Rosario Green, Donna J. Hrinak, Michael Kergin, Marifeli Perez-Stable, Peter Quilter, Michael Shifter, Viron Peter Vaky, and Fred Woerner. Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza offered his comments and reactions.

The task force report argues that the OAS could and should be playing a more influential role in hemispheric affairs, but, in order to do so, it will need greater unity and cooperation among its member states. The OAS, according to the report, needs a larger budget...