The hegemonic hermano: South American collective identity and Brazilian regional strategy

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article investigates Brazil’s strategy for South America and attempts to understand why its role as a regional power should be considered a type of hegemony instead of leadership, based on the ends pursued by Brasília. Under a constructivist perspective, it analyzes the workings of several collective identity formation mechanisms in the course of South American history to assess whether consistent shared identities and interests have emerged over time. It concludes that regionalism has not yet produced sufficiently salient common identities and interests to overcome collective action problems. The setbacks of the integrationist project indicate that Brazil and its neighbors hold predominantly selfish identities and interests, their ultimate frame of reference being the individual nation-state.