Hearing on the important changes that have taken place in Latin America over the past decade with respect to democracy & political & economic reform. Witnesses: Abraham Lowenthal, Pres., Pacific Council on International Policy; Riordan Roett, Dir., Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Joseph Tulchin, Dir., Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Albert Fishlow, Sr. Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Tom Dawson, Dir., Merrill Lynch; William Pryce, V.P., Council of the Americas; William Skol, Sr. V.P., Diplomatic Resolutions, Inc., & William Perry, Pres., Institute for the Study of the Americas.

Independent Diplomat is a compelling insider's account of the foreign policy world. Carne Ross was a diplomat on the front line of today's most pressing issues, from Israel/Palestine to Afghanistan and Iraq, over which he resigned from the British Foreign Office. He was trained to see the world through a prism of states and interests, but the reality of his negotiations revealed very different - more complex, and more human - forces at play. Independent Diplomat exposes this fundamental weakness of institutional diplomacy: exclusion of those most affected by its outcomes, whether at the UN, the EU or within national foreign ministries. Illustrated with vivid episodes from his career - from New York to Kabul - Ross offers a refreshing critique of contemporary diplomacy and of how to put it right.