The Office of Asian Pacific, Latin American, and African Analysis (APLAA) studies the political, economic, leadership, societal, and military developments in Asia, Latin America, and Sub-saharan Africa:

• Asian Pacific countries provide non-stop military and economic security challenges for analysts, who also focus on assessing the new regional balance of power dynamic that has evolved over the past decade.
• Latin American countries interweave political volatility, military security, leadership changes, and unstable economic dynamics. Colombian analysts, in particular, must fold counternarcotics and terrorism into their analytic support for policymakers. The growing likelihood of leadership succession in Cuba adds a special analytic and intellectual challenge to the office's work.
• Sub-saharan Africa plays host to some of the DI’s most intensive crisis support work. Some combination of rebellion, civil war, humanitarian or environmental disaster, support to US forces, and political instability is almost constantly at play in the region. In addition to assessing volatile situations, Africa analysts focus on conflict prevention, the prospects for greater economic development, and progress toward democratization and good governance.