Bruce M. Bagley is professor in the Department of International Studies at the University of Miami.Hanna Kassab is lecturer at the University of Miami.Jonathan D. Rosen is research professor at the Institute of International Studies at the Universidad del Mar, Mexico.

States is not the least interested in turning to violence to liquidate Venezuela's 'revolution.' Nobody is going to invade Venezuela. What is generally ignored is why Obama has taken this contradictory step that only serves to give Maduro a pretext for nationalism, increase repression and stir the Latin American hornet's nest. And yet, there are good reasons behind the move. Venezuela is indeed a risk to the security of the United States, not because it violated the democrats' human rights – that was the excuse – but because of three activities that are codified in the doctrinary definition that indicates where the danger to U.S. society begins or intensifies. Whoever wants to know the vision that prevails in Washington on this issue should read the book Reconceptualizing Security in the Americas in the 21st Century, with special attention to the chapter titles Venezuela: Trends in Organized Crime.

• Section 1: Reconceptualizing SecurityChapter 1: The Hemisphere and Declining U.S. Hegemony—Hanna KassabChapter 2: Reconceptualizing Security Priorities of the Hemisphere—Hanna KassabChapter 3: Desecuritization: Reestablishing Priorities of the Hemisphere—Alberto Lozano-VázquezSection 2: Terrorism, Insurgency and Challenges to the StateChapter 4: In the Name of Vindice: Latin America’s ‘Endemic Pattern’ of Violence: A Conceptual Analysis—Bradford R. McGuinnChapter 5: Colombia: Prospects for Peace in the 21st Century: Past Failures, Present Challenges and Future Opportunities—Lilian YaffeChapter 6: Mexico: Violence in Mexico: In Search of an Explanation—Jorge ChabatSection 3: Organized Crime and Drug TraffickingChapter 7: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking: Trends and Supply Chains—Juan Carlos Garzón VergaraChapter 8: Venezuela: Trends in Organized Crime—Joseph M. HumireChapter 9: Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime in Colombia: Major Challenges for the Santos Administration—Adam IsacsonChapter 10: A ‘Full-Cycle-Country’: How Argentina’s New role Within the Political Economy of Illicit Drugs is Transforming the Structure of Organized Crime—Sebastían Antonio Cutrona Chapter 11: The Evolution of Peru’s Shining Path and the New Security Priorities in the Hemisphere—Barnett S. Koven and Cynthia McClintockSection 4: The New Security AgendaChapter 12: The Rise of China in the Americas—R. Evan Ellis Chapter 13: Development and Inequality in the Americas—Ali R. Bustamante Chapter 14: Resource Security: Energy and Environment—Rémi Piet Chapter 15 Health Security Challenges in the Americas: Newly Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases—Sherri L. PorcelainChapter 16: Environmental Security of Coastal Resources in Latin America—Daniel Suman Chapter 17: Migration in the Americas—Roberto Zepeda Martínez