Post-hegemonic Regionalism Research Articles

DA CRISE DA PÓS-HEGEMONIA AO IMPACTO DA COVID-19. O IMPASSE DO REGIONALISMO LATINO-AMERICANO

This article analyzes the complex process that Latin American regionalism has experienced in the two decades of the 21st century and its current impasse. The first part of the paper discusses the era of post-hegemonic regionalism and its limitations. The second part contemplates the arrival of conservative governments and their impact on regionalist strategy, especially in South America. Finally, the response of the Latin American blocs to the Covid-19 pandemic is examined.

“Stranger Things”: the future of Latin American regionalism

As tentativas latino-americanas de regionalismo têm sido perseguidas através de diferentes ondas. A última onda, o regionalismo pós-liberal ou pós-hegemônico, está desaparecendo sem sequer ter atingido o pico. Com base em contribuições da Economia Política Internacional, Estudos Europeus e Relações Internacionais, o artigo tem como objetivo responder a duas questões principais: como caracterizar os caminhos atuais da integração regional na América Latina considerando as tendências dos últimos dez anos? O que podemos esperar do regionalismo latino-americano na próxima década? Abordamos três premissas – filiação de organizações regionais, projeto institucional e o papel dos Estados Unidos – sob o grande volume de pesquisas regionalistas na América Latina. Testamo-los em relação aos últimos desenvolvimentos após o colapso do regionalismo pós-liberal. Além disso, abordando essas três premissas, tentamos fazer algumas previsões sobre possíveis cenários regionais futuros. Exploramos dois desenvolvimentos possíveis – um cenário de curto prazo e um cenário de longo prazo –, principalmente, mas não exclusivamente extraídos das três premissas estudadas no artigo. Talvez estejamos prestes a testemunhar algumas “coisas estranhas” no futuro do regionalismo latino-americano, abrindo-se para diferentes realidades, diferentes explicações e alternativas.

The Normalization of U.S. Policy Toward Cuba? Rapprochement and Regional Hegemony

ABSTRACTThis article examines change and continuity in the United States' recent foreign policy toward Cuba. In the context of the posthegemonic regionalism of the Pink Tide and regional disputes over Cuba's position in the interamerican system, the Obama administration's rapprochement was driven to protect the institutional power and consensual features of U.S. hegemony in the Americas. The Trump administration reversed aspects of Obama's normalization policy, adopting a more coercive approach to Cuba and to Latin America more broadly. Against the emerging scholarly proposition that the international relations of the Americas have crossed a posthegemonic threshold, this analysis utilizes a neo-Gramscian approach to argue that the oscillations in U.S. Cuba policy represent strategic shifts in a broader process of hegemonic reconstitution. The article thus situates U.S. policy toward Cuba in regional structures, institutions, and dynamics.

Lo bueno, lo malo, lo feo - y lo necesario: Pasado, presente y futuro del regionalismo latinoamericano

In the context of the current crisis of Latin American regionalism, the first part of the article analyses both the advances and structural limitations of Latin American regionalism during the past 30 years. The second part describes some structural elements for a better understanding of the crisis of post-hegemonic regionalism. The third part discusses strategies and steps to overcome the current crisis and to give new impetus to Latin American regionalism. It discusses options how to confront the porosity of the region, and how to take advantage of the new opportunities to establish alliances for economic cooperation between countries in different world regions. The article argues in favor of pragmatic regionalism and supports the proposal to create a Latin American free trade area.

Post-hegemonyacı dünya düzeni altında Çin'in Avrasya bölgeciliği

How does the growing emphasis of Chinese foreign policy on multilateralism and regionalism affect the multipolarisation of global politics in the 2000s? What is the normative and institutional setting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as the locomotive of the China-led multipolarisation? Post-hegemony refers to a situation in which the unipolar organisation of the global political economy is challenged by a plurality of alternative projects, but without being entirely replaced by another system. The contribution of China’s regionalism to the post-hegemonic world order is centred on four main areas: culture, economy, financial cooperation and regional defence. The driving force of China’s regionalism within the SCO is international security, and this regionalism hinges on a strong normative framework of legitimacy and aims at building an endogenous cultural, educational and defence infrastructure under the initiative of China. It also seeks to accelerate economic, financial and infrastructural development, independent of the US-dominated international institutions. As for the limitations and contradictions of China’s post-hegemonic regionalism, the SCO has to date failed to offer a coherent alternative economic development model to counter US hegemonism. Moreover, the SCO experience still suffers from unresolved tensions between national sovereignty and supranationalism, which adds to the SCO’s lack of bindingness of organisational decisions and military competitiveness with US-dominated organisations.

Regionalismos e Migrações Internacionais na América do Sul: Contexto e Perspectivas Futuras sobre as Experiências na Comunidade Andina, no Mercosul e na Unasul / Regionalisms and International Migration in South America: Context and Future Perspectives on the Andean Community, Mercosur and Unasur Experiences

Este trabalho busca descrever as relações existentes entre regionalismos e migrações internacionais na América do Sul, mediante a análise da Comunidade Andina (CAN), do Mercado Comum do Sul (Mercosul) e da União de Nações Sul-Americanas (Unasul). Estes processos, que incluem entre seus propósitos o tratamento das migrações internacionais, redefiniram seus objetivos ou incorporaram este fenômeno no marco do regionalismo pós-liberal ou pós-hegemônico. Aqui, fatores como a maior politização da cooperação regional, o “giro à esquerda” dos principais países da região, a emergência de novas narrativas a favor dos direitos dos migrantes e uma maior participação de atores não estatais tiveram um papel essencial. Como resultado, foram criadas normativas regionais sobre migrações internacionais com a perspectiva dos direitos humanos e projetos de cidadania regional. Concluímos com algumas reflexões sobre as mudanças recentes no cenário político regional e o retorno do regionalismo aberto com ênfase na economia e no comércio.

Post-hegemonic regionalism in the Americas: toward a Pacific–Atlantic divide?

Post-hegemonic regionalism in the Americas: toward a Pacific–Atlantic divide?

Post-hegemonic regionalism in Oceania: examining the development potential of the new framework for Pacific regionalism

This article explores the early potential of the Framework for Pacific regionalism, a new political process that Pacific nations are using to establish regional development priorities. The emergence of this process is positioned within a context of a desire for a new era of Pacific-led regional development collaboration. The early outcomes of the Framework are outlined and examined. Specifically, the article questions whether it is meeting aspirations for ‘game-changing’ development goals that enjoy greater levels of ‘ownership’ amongst Pacific leaders. It also explores whether the new process canbe seen as evidence of a new era of ‘post-hegemonic’ regionalism in Oceania, characterised by a revitalisation of regional political debate; a rejection of ‘economism’; and the reassertion of indigenous and civil society concerns.

Latin American Regionalism in a Multipolar World

The landscape of Latin American regionalism has experienced profound transformations in a relatively short period of time. Regional organizations have proliferated; the open regionalism of the 1990s has gone into decay; new organizations, often referred to as belonging to a new wave of a more political “posthegemonic regionalism,” took center stage; only to be displaced in the attention of observers by newer trade-oriented organizations such as the Pacific Alliance. These developments have been puzzling scholars and policy makers, who for their most part have tended to converge on the view that a fragmented regional configuration with diverging or even incompatible models of regional integration is on the rise. This article challenges this interpretation by arguing that many of the trends we observe are rather the result of Latin American states’ practical adaptation of their foreign policy strategies to the emergence of a multipolar political economy in the international system. One important consequence of this process of adaptation, I argue, is a “decoupling” of the economic function of regionalism from its other dimensions – a process that I show is facilitating the emergence of a regional architecture characterized by a finer division of labor among organizations.

Post-hegemonic regionalism, UNASUR, and the reconfiguration of regional cooperation in South America

This article explores the changes in the patterns of regional cooperation in South America in the last decade, and the role of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in the contemporary period. It is argued that a new period has begun, better captured by the concept of “post-hegemonic regionalism”, which implies that there is no hegemonic model of regional integration and cooperation, but rather a plurality of models that coexist and overlap. The plurality of models is accentuated in the area of trade: while Mercosur has abandoned the focus on free trade and privileged a social and productive agenda, the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of America (ALBA) is advancing an alternative model based on twenty-first-century socialism. In this context, UNASUR has become an umbrella organization advancing political and security cooperation among countries that, nevertheless, pursue different strategies of development. The UNASUR economic agenda has not included the liberalization of trade, so far, but has rather focused on cooperation in the areas of infra-structure, social development, and energy. UNASUR’s role in South American regionalism depends on its capacity to be a space for the discussion and consolidation of consensus in the political and security areas and a minimum common denominator in the economic area.

Post-hegemonic regionalism and sovereignty in Latin America: optimists, skeptics, and an emerging research agenda

A scholarly debate is emerging on how recent regional trends in Latin America and South America have impacted the meanings and practices of sovereignty. This debate pits two groups engaged in regionalist analysis against each other: the optimists and the skeptics. Optimists argue that recent changes in regionalism are having a transformative impact on sovereignty. Skeptics acknowledge that changes in regionalism have occurred, but that they have been accompanied by persistent and traditional sovereignty meanings and practices. The article employs a tripartite conception of sovereignty regime-sovereign, space, and authority-to sketch the parameters of the debate. Given the recent origins of ALBA, CELAC, and UNASUR, as well as the post-hegemonic regionalism which they reflect and promote, this debate can only be resolved through ambitious qualitative empirical research, especially in South America, the regional experience upon which many of the contending claims are made. Such a research agenda on the regionalism-sovereignty nexus has both significant theoretical and practical implications for understanding Latin America's and South America's unique regional, institutional, and sovereignty patterns, as well as the limits and possibilities for regional governance.

LA IDENTIDAD DE UNASUR: ¿REGIONALISMO POST-NEOLIBERAL O POST-HEGEMÓNICO?

Desde comienzos del nuevo milenio se viene construyendo en América del Sur, un nuevo proceso de integración regional. Por sus particularidades, se trata de un proceso que desborda los modelos explicativos existentes. De allí la aparición de distintas propuestas de caracterización, como la del regionalismo post-neoliberal o la del post-hegemónico. Sin embargo, ninguna de ellas ha logrado aún una síntesis acabada del fenómeno sudamericano.