The Rise and Fall of IIRSA and the Prospects for Regional Infrastructure Integration in the Post-Pandemic

Abstract

This chapter analyses the rise and fall of regional infrastructure cooperation in South America, exploring the drivers, governance modes, and outcomes of the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA). Through the case of IIRSA, the chapter sheds light on the impact of three variables on regional cooperation outcomes: ideological polarisation among governments, regional leadership, and the engagement of technical international organisations in regional governance. The chapter shows how the interplay of Brazil’s regional leadership, South America’s low ideological polarisation, and the proactive engagement of regional development banks (RDBs) led to the creation of IIRSA and to high infrastructure cooperation throughout the early 2000s. The chapter then discusses how growing preference divergence among South American governments, coupled with Brazil’s withdrawal from its regional leadership role, led to the breakdown of infrastructure cooperation and the disengagement of RDBs from IIRSA. The chapter concludes by analysing the impact of COVID-19 on regional infrastructure cooperation, exploring how the pandemic crisis may stimulate the emergence of new regional governance modes characterised by a renewed protagonism of the RDBs and the growing financial involvement of external powers such as China and the US.