President Bush remained a lonely figure at the fourth Summit of the Americas held in Mar de Plata, Argentina in November, his economic position directly defended only by Vicente Fox of Mexico. Facing mass protests in the streets Bush was overshadowed by the popular support accorded Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez (who, standing by Bolivia’s Evo Morales, in front of a larger-than life image of Che Guevara, led an anti-American, anti-globalization rally of more than 25,000 people in the city) and Brazil’s Luis Ignacio "Lula" da Silva.

Robert Matthews focuses in this report on international terrorism and particularly, US responses to it. The report is divided into two main sections: Section I is an introduction to the theme of terrorism today and the policies and practices of counterterrorism by the West. Section II constitutes the bulk of the report and begins with a discussion of US definitions and analysis of terrorism. The author warns against automatically assuming the benefits of democratization to attack the roots of terrorism in the Middle East. Matthews points at the fact that Islamic terrorism stems primarily from a common Muslim sense of being under siege by the West, particularly the US, and that Washington's foreign policy is a critical factor over the past decade in the incidence of international terrorism.

A reflection on the different attitudes of the US towards terrorism whether it is against their interests –as the September 11 attacks-- or promoted by Washington; such is the case of Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who has been collaborating with the US since the 70’s.