In 1989 The Inter-American System will celebrate its centennial anniversary, tracing its lineage to the International Union of the American Republics formed at Secretary of State Blaine's Washington convocation in 1889. Over the years the mantle was passed, first, to the Pan American Union, and then to the system's present incumbent, the Organization of American States (OAS). It has been a century of unprecedented achievement and unremitting frustration, of great triumphs and repeated failures. Given the present state of the system, however, the major question is whether the system can endure, much less match the rhetoric and aspirations of its members, in its second century.

International cooperation is a political decision in search of a framework. The Organization of American States is the attempt to express and enhance that cooperation among the nations of the Western Hemisphere. It is, and can be, no better than the underlying relationships among the nations.

This Article Assesses the impact of the Cuban military on strategic, diplomatic and political relationships in southern Africa. It does not deal with why Cuba and its Soviet benefactor have interested themselves in the region, nor does it discuss Soviet influence on Cuban foreign policy. The aspects covered here include: (1) how Cuba and Angola fit into the complex pattern of regional relations in southern Africa; (2) an outline of the region's main territorial actors and guerrilla movements, along with a brief history of Cuban involvement in the area; (3) the response of South Africa to this foreign spoiler of its regional hegemony, (4) regional cooperation in southern Africa insofar as it is a response to South Africa's militancy in the face of international communism as represented in the region by Cuba; and (5) Cuba's effect upon the economy and polity of Angola and Mozambique.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently published a pamphlet on the question of whether the IMF, as an institution, imposes austerity on debtors. The response focused on the second half of the question and argued that IMF adjustment programs were, in fact, not systematically austere. However, from a political perspective, the first half of the question is much more provocative. Does the IMF “impose” its will on member states, and, if so, how? Many have argued i that, by virtue of its political connections with the financial centers of the world and its intellectual sophistication, the so-called “negotiations” which debtor nations conduct with Fund staff, prior to the drafting of an agreement on lending conditions, is little more than an exercise in coercion on the part of the Fund.

While it is Still too Early to draw decisive conclusions about the ongoing process of reform in the USSR, there are some observations that might safely be made. Glasnost has generally come to be viewed as a profound attempt to re-evaluate a number of time-honored principles of Marxism-Leninism before the actual undertaking of perestroika (policy reform) itself. If the scope and potential success of perestroika are the subject of heated scholarly debate in the West, a consensus holds that, thus far, a process of rethinking, re-evaluating, and transforming approaches to domestic policies in the USSR lie at its core. In light of the importance of the reform for the evolution of the Soviet domestic system, its influence upon the conduct of Soviet foreign policy represents an intriguing area for examination.

Revolution is Always a Latent Course of action for opposition groups in Mexico where no peaceful process exists for real change of control of political power.

Mexicans opposed to the continued domination of their country by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI), which has ruled Mexico since 1929, have compared this year's presidential election to that of 1910. Reelection then of President Porfirio Daz, who had been dictator for 34 years, led directly to the society-shattering revolution which devastated Mexico for well over a decade. The population of Mexico, 15 million in 1910, dropped to 14 million by 1920.

Analysis of political trends in Mexico indicates, however, that while armed revolt against continuing political and economic control by the PRI remains an option for the opposition, Mexico's government is not now, nor is it likely to be in the foreseeable future, in danger of being overthrown.