Riordan Roett
Encyclopedia
Riordan Roett, is an American political scientist
specializing in Latin America
. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University
in Political Science and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. He was assistant professor (1967–1973) and acting director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University
and is currently the Sarita and Don Johnston Professor of Political Science and Director of the Western Hemisphere Program at the Johns Hopkins University
's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Roett is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
in New York and a former national president of the Latin American Studies Association
. In 2001, the President of Brazil
named Dr. Roett to the Order of Rio Branco with the rank of Commander. Fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, he is a renowned specialist on Brazil
ian, Mercosur
and Mexican
issues and the author of several books on Latin America’s political economy
.
Dr. Roett has been an advisor to Chase Manhattan Bank
. From 1989 to 1997, he served as a Faculty Fellow of the World Economic Forum
at the annual meeting in Davos
, Switzerland
. Since 1999, Dr. Roett has served as a consultant to the National Intelligence Council of the Central Intelligence Agency
. Dr. Roett is also independent director of a group of emerging market funds in New York
and sits on the advisory council of CILAE (Centro de Investigación Latinoamérica Europa)
.
Since 2011, he acts as Advisor on the USA and Latin America especially for politics to Fair Observer, an online magazine covering global issues from a plurality of perspectives.
sent a memo calling on the Mexican
government to crush the indigenous Zapatista uprising, stating:
The memo was authored by Riordan Roett who claimed it was essential, from the investor point-of-view, to resolve the Chiapas issue as quickly as possible."http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/46/025.html The memo was distributed just two days before Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo
ordered a military (counter-insurgency
) crackdown on the Zapatista
rebels.
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
specializing in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in Political Science and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. He was assistant professor (1967–1973) and acting director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
and is currently the Sarita and Don Johnston Professor of Political Science and Director of the Western Hemisphere Program at the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...
in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Roett is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
in New York and a former national president of the Latin American Studies Association
Latin American Studies Association
The Latin American Studies Association is the largest association for scholars of Latin American studies. Founded in 1966, it has over 6,000 members, forty-five percent of whom reside outside the United States, LASA brings together experts on Latin America from all disciplines and diverse...
. In 2001, the President of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
named Dr. Roett to the Order of Rio Branco with the rank of Commander. Fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, he is a renowned specialist on Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian, Mercosur
Mercosur
Mercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
and Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
issues and the author of several books on Latin America’s political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
.
Dr. Roett has been an advisor to Chase Manhattan Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
. From 1989 to 1997, he served as a Faculty Fellow of the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
at the annual meeting in Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Since 1999, Dr. Roett has served as a consultant to the National Intelligence Council of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. Dr. Roett is also independent director of a group of emerging market funds in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and sits on the advisory council of CILAE (Centro de Investigación Latinoamérica Europa)
CILAE (Centro de Investigación Latinoamérica Europa)
CILAE is a non-partisan, non-profit and independent think tank focused on fostering the sociopolitical and economic development of Latin America and its relations with Europe...
.
Since 2011, he acts as Advisor on the USA and Latin America especially for politics to Fair Observer, an online magazine covering global issues from a plurality of perspectives.
Zapatista memo
On January 13, 1995 the Chase Manhattan BankChase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
sent a memo calling on the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
government to crush the indigenous Zapatista uprising, stating:
"While ChiapasChiapasChiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
, in our opinion, does not pose a fundamental threat to Mexican political stability, it is perceived to be so by many in the investment community. The government will need to eliminate the Zapatistas to demonstrate their effective control of the national territory and of security policy."http://www.struggle.ws/mexico/usa/chasel.html
The memo was authored by Riordan Roett who claimed it was essential, from the investor point-of-view, to resolve the Chiapas issue as quickly as possible."http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/46/025.html The memo was distributed just two days before Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
ordered a military (counter-insurgency
Counter-insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
) crackdown on the Zapatista
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
rebels.
Selected published works
- The Andes in Focus: Security, Democracy and Economic Reform, co-author, co-editor (2005)
- Mexico in the Age of Globalization: Changing Domestic and External Dynamics, co-author, co-editor (2004)
- Latin America in a Changing Global Environment, co-author, co-editor (2003)
- Post-Stabilization Politics in Latin America: Competition, Transition, Collapse, co-author, co-editor (2003)
- Exchange Rate Politics in Latin America, co-author, co-editor (2000)
- Brazil: Politics in a Patrimonial Society (1999, fifth edition)
- Mercosur: Regional Integration, World Markets (1999)
- Mexico’s Private Sector: Recent History, Future Challenges (1998)
- Brazil Under Cardoso (1997)
- The Mexican Peso Crisis: International Perspectives (1996)
- The Challenge of Institutional Reform in Mexico (1995)
- Political and Economic Liberalization in Mexico: At a Critical Juncture? (1993)
- Mexico’s External Relations in the 1990s (1991)
- Paraguay: The Personalist Legacy, co-author (1991)
- Mexico and the United States: Managing the Relationship
- Latin America, Western Europe and the U.S.: Reevaluating the Atlantic Triangle, co-author (1985)