Making (Latin) America Great Again: Lessons from Populist Foreign Policies in the Americas

Abstract

Contemporary politics is increasingly entering an era of global populism. Within this challenging context, the lessons from past experience on populism, in which Latin America and “Latin-Americanists” have particular prominence, can contribute to provide a satisfactory response to many pressing questions concerning the foreign policies of today’s populist regimes. This chapter explores possible patterns in the formulation of foreign policies among Latin-American populist regimes during the periods known as “classic populism” (1930s–1950s), “neoliberal neopopulism” (1980s–1990s), and “progressive neopopulism” (2000s–). The Latin American experience serves as a multi-dimensional case study for analyzing a range of populist eras in the same region and comparing, with significant variance in time and space, how populist regimes conducted their policies on the regional, sub-regional, interregional, and global levels. The findings of such a comparative study indicate that it is difficult to define a coherent “populist foreign policy” in Latin America in terms of ideological or programmatic content. Nevertheless, it is possible to distinguish a greater tendency among Latin-American populists to support regionalist and globalist policies by empowering identity-based solidarities, and thus legitimizing themselves locally, regionally and internationally. This chapter aims to contribute to a growing research program focusing on populist foreign policies.