While our attention is often captivated by events in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, the Western Hemisphere is strategically important to U.S. interests. Crises and firefighting should not determine the level of a region's priority for the United States. The U.S. has drifted in many ways toward a policy of benign neglect of our neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean. U.S. disengagement, evidenced by unsustained U.S. attention and tactical rather than strategic approaches in the region, has enabled other actors to step into the vacuum of leadership. With no ocean separating the Americas, both threats and opportunities in Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America have a greater potential to impact the United States homeland and the American people as well as American businesses. Therefore, we must remain vigilant and truly engaged.