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Content: Latin America is inextricably tied to the United States economically, but when hearing Ross Perot speak during the 1992 presidential election campaign, an observer might have concluded that the region is more a threat than a vital economic partner of the United States. This relationship demonstrates a historic imbalance, and the importance of the United States to Latin America continues to outweigh the importance of the region to its powerful northern neighbor. Many Latin American governments are largely dependent on the U.S. for their economic well-being, and an economic decline in the United States is virtually certain to trigger a recession in Latin America. This cause and effect relationship is summarized by the phrase "When the U.S. economy sneezes, Latin American economies catch pneumonia." The economic, political, and military influence of the United States in the region has historically been tremendous. Many governments south of the U.S./Mexican border have traditionally defined their foreign policies by opposition to the United States, and virtually all the citizens of the region harbor some resentment for past meddling and interventions of "the ugly Americans" in Latin American internal affairs. Since the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the strategic context of international affairs has been dramatically transformed. Changes in Latin America contributing to this new environment include transitions to democratic governance in virtually all the nations of the region and the growing acceptance of the free market economic model. Latin American protectionism and overt resentment of the United States are giving way to privatization, lowered tariffs, and expectations of a positive future relationship with the United States embodied in former President George Bush's "Enterprise for the Americas Initiative." The greatest risk faced by the United States in the post-cold war era is that the U.S. will declare victory against communism and fail to fundamentally reassess its foreign policy toward Latin America and the rest of the globe.