Orchestrating Regionalism: The Interamerican Development Bank and the Central American Electric System

Abstract

AbstractWhy have Central American states been able to deliver public goods in the energy sector when most experiences of energy regionalism in Latin American have run into deadlock? Through process‐tracing the different factors that transformed the Central American Electric System (SIEPAC) from a policy‐idea into a fully operative supranational market, this article finds that the Interamerican Development Bank was the orchestrator of governments, national utilities, and extra‐regional state and market actors resulting in the production of energy infrastructure and improved energy security for Central American countries. Through three mechanisms—brokering, agenda‐setting, and assistance—the Interamerican Development Bank kept the cooperation agenda ongoing despite coordination problems and member states' divergent preferences. The article concludes that regional development banks are particularly well‐suited orchestrators of highly technical regionalism initiatives, such as energy integration, because they combine the input‐legitimacy of an intergovernmental organization, the know‐how of an epistemic community, and the resources of a bank. More research is needed to compare the role of various regional development banks in regionalism initiatives in the global South.