Colombia

Although shooting female FARC members first during battle is not official policy, a retired Colombian colonel told the author in 2009, any sensible soldier would do so. With their "Kamikaze-like" mentality, he said, they are the deadliest combatants. This profile of one former member illustrates how the abuses women face once inside the group create such a mindset.

In the run up to this month's elections, criminal groups have funded campaigns, intimidated voters, and even placed some of their own on the ballots. Police might be able to contain the violence that surrounds these groups, but will not be able to prevent them from taking some political power.

Colombia has just inaugurated a hard-line president, Alvaro Uribe, who has promised to crack down on the country's left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries. Meanwhile, U.S. aid is flooding in, and since September 11, American efforts have shifted from fighting drugs to battling subversives. Peace will not come however, until Bogota rebuilds neglected state institutions and starts providing real security.

Colombia is waging a war on two fronts: against guerrillas and against drugs. The former cannot be won on the battlefield alone. If the current peace talks fail, the country will plunge into all-out chaos. So the United States needs to take Colombia off the back burner and work with its government to help tamp down the violence, limit the drug lords' clout, lower the demand for drugs abroad, and prod the peace process along. Without these steps, even billions in U.S. aid will not be enough.