Terrorism, Organized Crime and Narcotrafficking To Be Subject of Global Issues Lecture Series Presentation

by Angela Best, student newswriter, (254) 710-1961

Dr. Andrés Fontana will present a lecture titled "Terrorism, Organized Crime and Narcotrafficking as Major Threats in Latin America's Southern Cone" as part of the Global Issues Lecture Series from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, in Room 116 of the Draper Academic Building on the Baylor University Campus.

Fontana, professor of political science, director of international cooperation at the Universidad Nacional de La Matanza and dean of graduate studies at the Universidad de Belgrano, teaches international security at the Foreign Service Institute and has been a fellow at the Social Science Research Council, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame and the King's College at the University of London.

The topic of Fontana's lecture will encompass the state capability of facing terrorism in Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela). He will analyze legislation, regional cooperation, security forces missions, public officers, civil society perceptions and other dimensions of the capacities and preconditions of the major findings.

"In today's globalized world, it is important to be informed about not only specific area issues, but also how they relate to each other within the global context," said Dr. Lizbeth Souza-Fuertes, director of Latin American Studies. "Terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking are current problems that many countries face and that are many times interconnected at the global level."

Fontana's previous work deals with cooperative security, the new roles of NATO, the emergence of new threats in the Western Hemisphere and civil-military relations in democratic transitions.

The lecture is sponsored by the Center for International Education and Latin American Studies.

For more information on the lecture, contact Lilly_Fuertes@baylor.edu.