U.S. Academic Offers Views on "The China-Latin America-United States Triangle" to Argentine Journalists

September 14, 2006

Jane Skanderup, Senior Associate at the Pacific Forum, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Ms. Jane Skanderup, Senior Associate at the Pacific Forum, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), met with Argentine journalists September 14 to engage in a conversation on her international project “Latin America Policies toward China and Impact on US Interests.”  Ms. Skanderup presented her analyses regarding U.S. concerns about China 's economic relationship with the region, the experience of Argentina and Brazil 's first agreements with China and the outcomes of actual business dealings between Latin America and China.  Ms. Skanderup noted the significance of the visit to China earlier in the year by Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Thomas Shannon.  

Jane Skanderup Biography

As of June 2006, Ms. Jane Skanderup is a Senior Associate at the Pacific Forum, CSIS, where she is conducting a project on “Latin America Policies toward China and Impact on US Interests.”  This project involves travel to Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, where Ms. Skanderup is meeting with policy experts and government officials to analyze Latin American strategies toward globalization in the context of relations with China and the United States.  The project also includes interviews in Washington , DC , Miami , and New York and will conclude with a published monograph in January 2007.

Prior to June 2006, Ms. Skanderup served as Director for Programs and Development at the Pacific Forum CSIS, the Honolulu-based autonomous arm of the Center for Strategic and International Relations (CSIS) in Washington , DC.  At the Pacific Forum, she held senior management responsibilities that included conducting economic policy analyses and presenting papers at international economic conferences. Her economic expertise includes comparative economic strategies in Asia in response to globalization and the emergence of China ; Cross-Straits economic relations and impact on political and security tensions; economic reforms in the wake of the Asian financial crisis; and Asia-Pacific economic cooperation, including ASEAN Plus Three, APEC, and WTO.  She particularly enjoys interaction with undergraduate and graduate students through the Pacific Forum’s Young Leader’s Program and lecture/discussion groups in Hawaii , Asia, and the US mainland. 

In addition, Ms. Skanderup’s position at the Pacific Forum included organizing international research conferences with numerous Asian partners;  overseeing the  development office, raising $1.2 million annually in government, foundation, corporate, and individual contributions; overseeing the finance office, ensuring compliance with all grants and creating the annual budget; and supervising a five member support staff.

Prior to joining the Pacific Forum in 1989, Ms. Skanderup received the MA degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies ( SAIS ) in international economics and Latin America .  At SAIS , she conducted advanced study at the Colegio de Mexico and received an Exxon grant for field research on the July 1988 presidential elections in Mexico . Prior to that, she worked at the UN Development Programme and the Social Science Research Council in New York City.  In 1981, she received the BA degree in international development from World College West in California , including a two-year internship in Mexico on village economic development. 

The Pacific Forum CSIS is a non-profit foreign policy research institute focused on US-Asia relations.  Founded in 1975 in Honolulu , and merged in 1989 with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., the Forum has earned a reputation in Asia as a leading American policy institute dedicated to addressing political, security, and economic challenges in the Asia-Pacific region through consensus-building and cooperation.  The Pacific Forum's staff of 10 is led by President Ralph A. Cossa.  See www.csis.org/pacfor for further information.

Ms. Jane Skanderup, Senior Associate at the Pacific Forum, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), met with Argentine journalists September 14 to engage in a conversation on her international project “Latin America Policies toward China and Impact on US Interests.”  Ms. Skanderup presented her analyses regarding U.S. concerns about China 's economic relationship with the region, the experience of Argentina and Brazil 's first agreements with China and the outcomes of actual business dealings between Latin America and China.  Ms. Skanderup noted the significance of the visit to China earlier in the year by Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Thomas Shannon.