Editors' foreword.

• Position: Editorial

Latin American countries share a common colonial history--one that has shaped the region and contributed to many modern tendencies that exist today. However, looking through any other lens will unveil a region that can only be defined by its colorful diversity. Indeed, each country is distinct in its triumphs and failures and its unique combination of traditions. Nevertheless, technology, social reform, and a propitious international environment have provided opportunities that, overall, suggest a region on the rise. Many have defined this rise in economic terms. But these opportunities have contributed to other emergent features of the region including energy, social justice, technology, and security.

This issue of the Journal captures Latin America at an important moment when regional self-confidence and self-determination are at an all-time high, and when many inside and outside the region are seeking its redefinition. This collection of essays and interviews provides a snapshot of how a transitioning Latin America is responding to historical legacies and exploiting new opportunities.

Christopher Sabatini, editor in chief of Americas Quarterly, opens the issue with an exploration of U.S.-Latin American relations. For much of its modern history, Latin America has been heavily influenced by "the colossus of the north." Sabatini takes a close look at this relationship and the implications for Latin America in what many perceive to be the declining role of the United States in Latin America and the world.

The next three essays discuss topics that have a profound influence on the future wellbeing of the region as a whole, namely development, trade, and inequality. Albert Fishlow begins the discussion by looking at high rates of growth across Latin America and proposes that the continuation of such growth depends on whether policies will be implemented to sustain investment and promote regulatory stability and openness to technological advancement. Osvaldo Rosales and Sebastian Herreros then compare internal and external sources of development in the past decade by focusing on foreign and intra-regional trade. The next essay by Leonardo Gasparini and Guillermo Cruces provides a regional overview of the degree to which countries have reduced poverty and income inequality over the last decade. The authors argue that, in addition to changes in the international economy, internal changes in social policy have played an important role.

The issue...