Friday, October 30, 2026
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT
Location: Healey Family Student Center Social Room
As geopolitical rivalries intensify, economic fragmentation accelerates, and new technologies reshape the global economy, the international order is entering a period of profound uncertainty. From U.S.–China competition and shifting security priorities to the energy transition and artificial intelligence, the rules of global engagement are being redefined.
Where does Latin America and the Caribbean fit into this changing world? Can the region move beyond reacting to global disruptions and seize new opportunities to strengthen its economic and geopolitical position?
The Georgetown Americas Institute (GAI) invites you to a conversation with Jorge Argüello, moderated by Michael Shifter, exploring the challenges and opportunities facing the region in an increasingly fragmented world. The discussion will consider how Latin American countries can navigate great-power competition; leverage emerging opportunities in trade, investment, energy, and technology; and strengthen their international influence through regional cooperation, strategic partnerships, and a more proactive role in global affairs.
Featuring
Jorge Argüello is a lawyer with a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires and a master’s degree in administration and public policy from the University of San Andrés. He is the president of the Embajada Abierta Foundation. He was the permanent representative of Argentina to the United Nations, ambassador to Portugal and Cape Verde, and twice ambassador to the United States of America. In 2011, he served as chairman of the Group of 77 + China, and between 2019 and 2023, he was Argentina’s sherpa in the G20. He has been national congressman on two occasions, city councilman and member of the Constitutional Convention for the City of Buenos Aires, and served two terms as a Buenos Aires city legislator.
Michael Shifter is an adjunct professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he has taught Latin American politics since 1993. He is the former president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a leading policy forum on Western Hemisphere affairs based in Washington, DC. Shifter writes and comments regularly on U.S.-Latin American relations and hemispheric issues. His articles have been published widely, including in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, Current History, Americas Quarterly, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Journal of Democracy, Politico, and Harvard International Review, as well as in leading newspapers and journals in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Latin American Studies Association and is a contributing editor of Current History. Shifter graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Oberlin College and holds a M.A. in sociology from Harvard University, where he taught Latin American development and politics for four years.