It was wonderful to see relatives all over the northeastern United States during the past week’s holidays. But it’s also good to be back at work, as of today.

The first week of January is usually quiet here in Washington: Congress hasn’t really started up yet, and there are few or no events. It’s also quiet in Latin America, where most people (governing elites, anyway) are still out for the holiday.

This means I expect to spend this week doing some beginning-of-year planning, and some long uninterrupted writing. By the end of Friday, I hope to:

• Have completed a lousy but workable rough draft of a big report on Colombia’s post-conflict challenges.
• Have updated our database of U.S. security assistance programs to reflect the annual defense bill that became law on December 12.
• Have completed planning documents for my 2018 work.