A hemispheric divide defined by two women, two nations, and one superpower.
PREAMBLE — LEADERSHIP IN THE SHADOW OF AMERICAN POWER
How do we truly perceive leadership when the world’s most powerful nation is exerting pressure across our hemisphere? And what does it reveal about the character of leaders who resist that force or bend toward it?
Because right now, the world is profoundly distracted.
American warships and fighter jets have taken up residence at the doorstep of Venezuela, signaling a new chapter of geopolitical brinkmanship. Simultaneously, the explosive release of the Epstein files and emails has rattled the global media landscape a different spectacle of power, corruption, and the unmasking of elite networks.
Inside the United States, the atmosphere is equally charged. A Saudi dignitary long identified by CIA intelligence as having foreknowledge of Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal killing is wined and dined in gilded American halls. Meanwhile, former CIA officers and retired military leadership individuals who reminded U.S. service members that under the Constitution they are not obligated to obey unlawful commands now find themselves targeted.
And in the midst of this, the President of the United States publicly accused them of sedition an escalation that carries the unmistakable undertone of a threat.
Yet amid all this turbulence, one moment of clarity emerged.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum delivered a decisive ruling that cut through the global noise:
