SOUTH AMERICAN REGIONAL INTEGRATION INITIATIVE (IIRSA)

Abstract

This study poses the question, to what extent do external actors influence the ways and the degrees to which Latin America develops with a focus on regional development levels in infrastructure, and subsequently, in what ways prominent nation-states regionally and as members of institutional entities (i.e. MNCs and BNDES) in South America, have been leading actors in regional integration efforts, particularly IIRSA projects. In this vein, this research argues that the US-led FTAA arrangement, perceived as a threat, and at the same time China’s global and regional presence, identified as an opportunity, accelerated the nations of South America, particularly Brazil, which already had an aspiration for regional and global power, in reconfiguring the South American region as a whole. Therefore, this paper examines dynamics of the two most important international actors (a.k.a G2) who play a role in influencing the region-building orientation and procedure in South America. This will be followed by a further study of the nature of Brazil as a level of nation-state that attempts to expand its political economic ‘territory’ in order to meet its national interests: economic and geo-political power in the process of regional infrastructure development. To discuss the importance of dynamics of the region-building process, interviews and official documents among others will be employed. Finally, this paper opens a further realm of study paying special attention to local actors in the procedure of regional unity, with particularly focus on the Inter-Oceanic Highway project.