Setting the Regional Agenda: A Critique of Posthegemonic Regionalism

Abstract

There is a growing scholarly consensus that Latin American regionalism has entered a new phase. For some observers, the increasing complexity of regional cooperation initiatives renders collective action ineffective. For others, the creation of new schemes signals a “posthegemonic” moment that has opened a space for collaboration on social issues. Both camps attribute this shift to the absence of the United States and the presence of left-leaning governments. By contrast, this study demonstrates that this agenda is not new, nor has the United States impeded similar initiatives in the past. In fact, the United States was instrumental in expanding regional cooperation on social issues in the early twentieth century. Instead, this article argues that agenda shifts are best explained by an evolving consensus about the role of the state. The “new agenda” is in line with historical attempts by governments to use regionalism to bolster their own domestic reforms.

JoséBriceño‐Ruiz and IsidroMorales (Eds.). 2017. Post‐Hegemonic Regionalism in the Americas. Toward a Pacific–Atlantic Divide? Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 204pp., U.S.$149.95, Hardback.

“…Instead, the authors concur with the conclusions of this book in that, “agenda shifts are best explained by an evolving consensus about the role of the state. The ‘new agenda’ is in line with historical attempts by governments to use regionalism to bolster their own domestic reforms” (Petersen & Schulz, , p. 102). In short, regionalism is domestic politics by other means.…”

“…After reading this book, those who still believe in the continuity of posthegemonic regionalism face a further challenge. A recent publication by Petersen and Schulz () shows that the retraction of the United States and the presence of left‐leaning governments do not justify the “posthegemonic” label, since the progressive agenda is not novel, and the United States has not impeded similar initiatives in the past. Instead, the authors concur with the conclusions of this book in that, “agenda shifts are best explained by an evolving consensus about the role of the state.…”

Regional Intergovernmental Organizations as Catalysts for Transnational Policy Diffusion: The Case of UNASUR Health

“…Regional cooperation among South American states in the public health sector has a long history that dates back to the early 20 th century (Petersen and Schulz, 2018). This is the consequence of the transnational nature of health threats, which endangered people's lives across national borders, creating high levels of interdependence among nation-states (Lee, 2003).…”

How to Asses Regional Cooperation in UNASUR? The Cases of Defense and the World Against Drugs Councils

“…Various authors highlight the importance of presidential diplomacy and the ideological components as the booster of regionalism in South America. The literature has focused on the causes of this shift (Riggirozzi and Tussie, 2012, Legler, 2013, Petersen and Schulz, 2018 being the most important alleged reasons the rise of numerous left-wing governments at the beginning of the 2000s that allowed the constitution of Unasur. However, other authors (Caetano, 2009, Malamud and Gardini, 2012, Quiliconi and Salgado 2017 argue that even though there was an ideological coincidence of governments in power, the outcome of regionalism is still uncertain and ideological convergence has not acted as an engine to deepen regionalism rather generating a proliferation of new organizations.…”