Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals by Víctor M Mijares
Colombia Internacional, 2022
Objective/context: this article addresses the causes of the virtual disintegration of the Union o... more Objective/context: this article addresses the causes of the virtual disintegration of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) from the perspective of analytical eclecticism, sequentially combining rival explanations such as neoclassical realism, institutional liberalism, and social constructivism. Its objective is to offer a convincing explanation about the organization’s fate that integrates the best of the multiple theoretical alternatives in the study of post-hegemonic South American regionalism. Methodology: our approach is documentary and part of the review of the main recent works on UNASUR, since its rise, peak and fall, from the perspective of analytical eclecticism. We combine specialized literature that starts from the three main approaches of the Theory of International Relations. Conclusions: we found that the explanations offered from the three analytical approaches are not contradictory but complementary. The creative combination of different approaches to International Relations improves understanding of Latin American regionalism. Analysis of the disintegration of UNASUR reveals structural challenges and stressors for South American regionalism. Originality: our analysis is part of the debate on the end of the Theory of International Relations, which criticizes the continuity of inter-paradigmatic tensions in the discipline. This is the first approximation of analytical eclecticism in the study of South American regionalism.
Global Crime, 2021
Why do criminal groups decide to adopt political discourses? We argue that an armed group's discu... more Why do criminal groups decide to adopt political discourses? We argue that an armed group's discursive politicisation (the public declaration of political motivations) is more likely when the state declares the organisation to be an existential threat, militarises the fight against it (securitisation), and when the leaders of the armed group have had political training. This discourse aims to reduce the state's military actions against them and gain civilian support. This argument is demonstrated through a qualitative comparative analysis of six Latin American cases: Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia and Los Rastrojos (Colombia), Militarizado Partido Comunista del Perú (Peru), Primeiro Comando da Capital (Brazil), Tren de Aragua (Venezuela), and Cartel de Sinaloa (Mexico). Three of them adopted a political discourse, and the others did not. We provide an analytical framework for criminal actors who do not necessarily fit into insurgent, paramilitary or simple criminal group typology.
Austral: Brazilian Journal of Strategy and International Relations, 2021
After the signing of peace in Colombia, attention has been directed to the difficult process of i... more After the signing of peace in Colombia, attention has been directed to the difficult process of implementing the agreements. This complex scenario has downplayed the problem of Colombian military transformation. The basis of that transformation, the Damasco doctrine, the, has encountered resistance within the Colombian Military Forces. Through the application of a process tracing method, we infer that there is a non-linear process, but in progress towards the fulfillment of the objectives of the doctrine. Thus, we identify three drivers that are making this transformation progress: a renewed confrontation with Venezuela; the changing nature of the domestic conflict; and the Colombia’s NATO global partner status.
Cuadernos del CENDES, 2020
Este artículo explica cómo la cooptación de la industria petrolera y la abrupta caída de los prec... more Este artículo explica cómo la cooptación de la industria petrolera y la abrupta caída de los precios del petróleo entre 2014 y 2016, confluyeron en el proceso de falla del Estado venezolano. Empleando el modelo analítico de causalidad de Coleman, hacemos explícito el mecanismo causal entre la Revolución Bolivariana y Venezuela como petroestado fallido, resaltando como variables intervinientes la cooptación de la industria petrolera y la coyuntura crítica de precios de 2014-2016. Nuestro análisis sugiere que, para el periodo 2014-2019, el cuadro de deterioro del Estado en Venezuela obedece a una serie de decisiones económicas y políticas cuya base fundamental es la ideología chavista. Así, la coyuntura crítica de 2014-2016 dejó en evidencia los problemas estructurales del modelo revolucionario venezolano.
European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 2020
The Russia-Venezuela relations are the most controversial of those between Latin American states ... more The Russia-Venezuela relations are the most controversial of those between Latin American states and extra-regional powers, due to the military-technical nature of its original links its implications for Russian-United States rivalry, and over the hemispheric security and democracy. This article explores these from the role of Russian-Venezuelan corruption as a versatile amalgam within the alliance from 2005 to 2018. Based on a descriptive research design, the systematization of scattered information, and the application of a congruence method, we infer that corruption contributes to improving Russian-Venezuelan political cohesion. Our inference indicates that these ties, in addition to serving Russian-Venezuelan geopolitical interests regarding the United States, constitute a cycle in which political corruption strengthens the alliance, favouring special corporate interests, undermining rule of law, encouraging corruption, and revitalizing authoritarianism in Venezuela.
Revista de Direito Internacional (Brazilan Journal of International Law), 2020
La Corte Penal Internacional es el mayor esfuerzo en la búsqueda de justicia universal para críme... more La Corte Penal Internacional es el mayor esfuerzo en la búsqueda de justicia universal para crímenes de lesa humanidad. No obstante su valor y el empeño en hacerla funcionar, su eficacia en la producción de sentencias muestra resultados mixtos. ¿Cuáles son las condiciones que limitan el desempeño de la Corte? Este artículo ofrece respuestas a partir de un análisis cualitativo comparado de los casos tratados por la Corte Penal Internacional, considerando factores internos y externos. El resultado es desalentador para las aspiraciones de efectividad de la justicia penal internacional, pues la evidencia señala que los acusados que cuentan con el apoyo de grandes potencias o que obtiene la victoria interna y se controlan importantes recursos naturales tienden zafarse de las consecuencias de sus crímenes. El artículo contribuye a la literatura
sobre cortes internacionales proveyendo evidencia sobre las dificultades que enfrentan para encauzar a violadores de derechos humanos desde el poder.
Colombia Internacional, 2020
In 2008-09, nascent Union of South American Nations, UNASUR, agreed and formalized the creation o... more In 2008-09, nascent Union of South American Nations, UNASUR, agreed and formalized the creation of one of its most ambitious bodies, its Defense Council. The origin of this council was surprising as some rival states, as well as others whose security and defense interests were distant from each other, participated in it. Its performance was marked by this contradictory origin, which resulted in its failure a decade later, in 2018, with the division of UNASUR. This article proposes elements for a complementary explanation of the trajectory of the UNASUR Defense Council, pointing out geopolitical links. Methodology: This is an empirical case study that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of both national capacities and contemporary geopolitical trends. It also includes the review of official documents and the presentation of processed results of semi-structured interviews with South American diplomats and military officers. Conclusions: The main contribution of this article is that it shows how global (de)concentration, the geostrategic (re)orientation of the United States and the contemporary geopolitical dynamics of the regional institutions, form an adequate set of causes for a structural explanation on the origin, performance and decline of the South American Defense Council. Originality: Unlike most of the giving explanations about the fate of the South American Defense Council, and UNASUR in general, focused mainly on domestic causes, this article presents a systemic and structural explanation that links institutional and institutional dynamics.
Estudos Internacionais, 2020
This article addresses the South American difficulties in the consolidation of regional security ... more This article addresses the South American difficulties in the consolidation of regional security mechanisms, developing an explanatory model called the "paradox of autonomy." This model was developed through the application of inductive and deductive methodological criteria, based on the observation of recent historical reality, in order to attain generalizable lessons from a relevant case for South American international relations. Also using rational analytical approaches that allow their construction within the framework of rational action problems. From the observation on the emergence and performance of the South American Defense Council, it was identified that the allowing conditions for a novel mechanism of regional (collective) autonomy for security, paradoxically offered opportunities for the exercise of national (individual) autonomy. The article concludes that, although the conditions for the paradox of autonomy are difficult to overcome in cases of security regionalism initiatives, there are possibilities to do so. The key would be in less ambitious institutional designs that recognize the inherent difficulties for institutional regional security cooperation in South America.
Latin American Policy, Dec 2018
This article evaluates the performance of the South American Defense Council, based on
the ration... more This article evaluates the performance of the South American Defense Council, based on
the rational institutional design and the concept of the operability of alliances. The
trajectory of the Council between 2009 and 2018, is examined through a theoretical
approximation inspired by neoclassical realism and by applying the descriptive inference
method of process tracing. The results indicate that in almost a decade, the Defense
Council of the Union of South American Nations did not achieve full operability
according to its institutional design. The evidence suggests that aspirations of national
autonomy undermined the regional security autonomy project. The article affirms that
the presence of a South American security regionalism problem resulting from national
and regional autonomy tensions generated a paradox of autonomy.
Latin American Policy, Dec 2017
This article analyzes Chavist Venezuela’s foreign policy toward three major powers, the United St... more This article analyzes Chavist Venezuela’s foreign policy toward three major powers, the United States, China, and Russia. Based on neoclassical, peripheral, and subaltern-realism theories, it considers the Latin American duality between alignment and autonomy as strategic alternatives, and uses congruence analysis to consider the coherence between Chavism’s geopolitical objectives and concrete actions in its foreign policy with the three powers. Venezuela’s foreign-policy strategy consists of three overlapping triads. In Venezuela–U.S.–China relations, Caracas assumes the power-transition theory, aligning economically with the Asian rising power and serving as a gateway to Latin America. In Venezuela–U.S.–Russia relations, Chavism is politically and militarily aligned with Putin’s Russia, taking advantage of the Russian–U.S. geostrategic rivalry. The most-interesting and novel finding is in Venezuela–China–Russia relations, where the Bolivarian Revolution exploits a favorable economic relationship with China but aligns to Russian geostrategy, conducting a “softer balancing” against China to hold on to the partnership and to autonomy.
Contexto Internacional, Jun 2016
This article addresses the transition from the presidency of Hugo Chávez to that of Nicolás Madur... more This article addresses the transition from the presidency of Hugo Chávez to that of Nicolás Maduro, in the light of the effects of the dynamics in domestic politics and the changing international order on the formulation of Venezuela’s foreign policy We start from a central question: how does Maduro’s government, amid a less favourable global scenario, face the international commitments made by its predecessor under complex and different domestic conditions? Our central hypothesis is that the historical currents of sociopolitical fragmentation, regional tensions and the energy market, pose difficulties to the continuation of an expansive foreign policy, but in turn act as a stimulus for greater centralisation of power internally, and the politicisation of the foreign policy agenda, in line with the objectives and general trends pursued by the governing party.
Revista de Ciencia Política, Dec 2015
Los estudios internacionales han alcanzado un importante grado de autonomía respecto a la cienci... more Los estudios internacionales han alcanzado un importante grado de autonomía respecto a la ciencia política, y aquello lo demuestra su desarrollo en las principales universidades. Sin embargo, esta autonomía práctica dentro de las ciencias sociales tiene problemas para justificarse científicamente y cuenta además con un argumento débil en relación con el objeto de estudio. El auge del realismo neoclásico –fundada en la explicación de la política exterior y con base en la distribución del poder en el sistema internacional teniendo en cuenta la política nacional– tiene el potencial de revertir esa autonomía práctica al debilitar el argumento de esta. Inadvertidamente, el realismo neoclásico nos obligaría a revisar la autonomía de los estudios internacionales respecto a la ciencia política.
Politeia, Jun 2011
El Consejo de Defensa Suramericano es el órgano defensivo de la Unión Suramericana de Naciones, p... more El Consejo de Defensa Suramericano es el órgano defensivo de la Unión Suramericana de Naciones, proyecto impulsado por Brasil como potencia central de la región, y su objetivo es consolidarse como una alianza operativa que cree un esquema de defensa colectiva. Pero, y a pesar del auge de Brasil como poder emergente, el Consejo no ha logrado consolidarse, y por el contrario, se ha estancado en la figura de un foro de debate no vinculante para temas coyunturales y de adquisición de armamento. En este trabajo se determina que los obstáculos más significativos para la creación de una alianza operativa en Suramérica son: una persistente primacía regional estadounidense; un sistema competitivo de alineamientos; y crecientes influencias extra-regionales. La combinación de estos factores genera la fractura de propósitos compartidos al reducir las probabilidades de definir amenazas e intereses comunes que comprometan a todos los miembros en un proyecto singular de defensa colectiva. Se concluye que los factores restrictivos para la operatividad de la alianza suramericana no son estructurales, y que el desarrollo del potencial brasileño podría superarlos, pero en su proyecto nacional de poderío corre el riesgo de alienarse del apoyo de sus vecinos, comprometiendo la posibilidad de una eventual alianza regional dirigida por Brasilia.
The South American Defense Council is the defense branch of the Union of South American Nations, a project driven by Brazil as the regional central power, and its goal is to become an operational alliance to create a collective defense scheme. But despite the rise of Brazil as an emerging power, the Council has not been consolidated, even worst, it has stagnated in the figure of a non-binding discussion forum for current topics and arms procurement. This paper finds that the most significant obstacles to the creation of an operative alliance in South America are: a persistent U.S. regional primacy, a competitive system of alignments, and growing extra-regional influences. The combination of these factors creates the shared purposes fracture to reduce the chance of defining common threads and interest that binds all members in a unique project of collective defense. We concluded that the limiting factors for the operation of the South American alliance are not structural, and that the development of Brazil's potential could be overcome, but in its national power risks alienating the support of neighbors, compromising the possibility of eventual regional alliance led by Brasilia.
Politeia, Jan 1, 2009
Este artículo expone los principales argumentos teóricos del debate sobre la incidencia que tiene... more Este artículo expone los principales argumentos teóricos del debate sobre la incidencia que tiene el orden multipolar sobre la seguridad internacional.Para ello se establecen los conceptos de orden y seguridad internacionales como base para entender lo que reconocidos teóricos de las relaciones internacionales interpretan como efectos del orden multipolar sobre la estabilidad sistémica. El análisis de los factores centrales del debate, esquemas de preferencias que guían la racionalidad, las percepciones y la incertidumbre internacionales nos permite inferir que la configuración multipolar del orden internacional ofrece altas probabilidades de tensión y conflicto, dado que existe una relación directamente proporcional entre el número de potencias internacionales relevantes y el surgimiento de patrones alternativos de preferencias en los procesos nacionales de toma de decisiones, lo que causa importantes asimetrías entre las distintas percepciones y aumenta la incertidumbre.
This article sheds light on the main theoretical arguments of the debate on the incidence of the multi-polar order on international security. In order to so, it establishes the concepts of international order and security as the basis for understanding the interpretations of renowned theorists on international relations regarding the effects of multipolar order on systemic stability. The central analysis of the debate’s underlying factors, preference schemes leading to rationality, perceptions and international
uncertainty enables us to infer that the multipolar configuration of international order offers high probabilities for tension and conflict, given the existence of a proportionally direct relation between
the number of relevant international powers and the rise of alternative preference trends in national decision-making processes, a factor giving rise to important asymmetries among different perceptions and increasing uncertainty.
Revista Venezolana de Análisis de Coyuntura, Jul 2003
El desarrollo del Estado moderno encontró en el petróleo una fuente eficiente de energía; presta ... more El desarrollo del Estado moderno encontró en el petróleo una fuente eficiente de energía; presta esta última a ser incorporada dentro del espectro de intereses políticos objetivos de las potencias de primer orden; urgidas de energía para la propulsión y despliegue físico de las fuerzas para mantener o escalar nichos en la estructura internacional; y, en segundo lugar, de los Estados que cuentan en su base territorial con yacimientos petrolíferos suficientes para satisfacer la demanda interna de energía y exportar excedentes que le reporten un beneficio material necesario para emprender políticas sociales e industriales enmarcadas en el paradigma occidental del desarrollo lineal ascendente, privativo de la modernidad. Mostrar el conflicto estructural inherente a esta relación de poder, y los intereses de las partes, es el objeto del presente ensayo.
Oil as a source of energy has played an important role in the development of the modern State. In the case of the major powers, is proved essential as a material ba-sis for advancing in the international scale and for maintaining their status while, at the same time, it led to the creation of powerful political interests. For those States that could count on sufficient resources in order to export, the corresponding income served to finance social and political policies conceived of as stepping-stones to modernity. This article explores the structural conflict inherent in the resulting power relations and in the differing interests of the actors.
Chapters in Books by Víctor M Mijares
Latin American Politics and Development, 2022
This chapter exposes Venezuela's sociopolitical, institutional, and economic situation between 20... more This chapter exposes Venezuela's sociopolitical, institutional, and economic situation between 2017 and 2022. It starts from an approach that draws on the literature on petrostates. It begins with a preliminary basic study of the country, allowing one to become familiar with Venezuela. It is mainly intended for undergraduate students or researchers who require a panoramic and up-to-date vision of this country.
Problems and Alternatives in the Modern Americas, 2022
This chapter offers an evidence-based analysis that demystifies the contemporary misconception ac... more This chapter offers an evidence-based analysis that demystifies the contemporary misconception according to which Venezuela's international assertiveness originated with the advent of Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution. It explains that this feature is a proper feature of the peculiar Latin American petro-state. Thus, the chapter addresses the foreign policy of Venezuela during the second half of the 20th century from a historical perspective. It starts from the specificity of Venezuela as a Latin American petro-state that reached development and sustained a regionally prominent democratic regime for forty years. The chapter shows that the Venezuelan international assertiveness is due in large part to a combination of autonomist aspirations of Latin American origin, and the availability of financial resources derived from an abundant oil income.
Annuaire Français des Relations Internationales 2021, 2021
Du fait de l’ampleur de ses liens avec le Venezuela, la République populaire est un acteur intern... more Du fait de l’ampleur de ses liens avec le Venezuela, la République populaire est un acteur international important et potentiellement influent dans l’évolution de la crise multidimensionnelle dont souffre ce pays depuis 2014. Cependant, elle a pour le moment plutôt adopté une posture pragmatique et défensive. Par exemple, il y a eu des contacts avec le chef de l’opposition, Juan Guaidó qui, depuis janvier 2019, nie la légalité de la présidence de Nicolás Maduro et a été reconnu comme le représentant légitime du Venezuela par une cinquantaine de pays, notamment d’Amérique latine et du Nord et d’Europe occidentale. La Chine n’a malgré tout pas changé de camp et continue d’entretenir des relations diplomatiques avec le gouvernement de Nicolás Maduro. Afin de comprendre la persistance de l’association bilatérale, nous proposons une analyse des motivations de chaque partie à la maintenir, avant de considérer les défis qui pourraient affaiblir la relation ou entraîner un changement de la position chinoise dans le futur.
China’s Interactions with Latin America and the Caribbean: Conquering the US’s Strategic Backyard?, 2020
Despite the evident geopolitical and economic coincidences, the disturbances in the Venezuelan po... more Despite the evident geopolitical and economic coincidences, the disturbances in the Venezuelan political system, the diversification of support from other great powers, and the tensions with the US did not go unnoticed by the Chinese leadership. While Beijing showed dynamism and renewal among its elites in a domestic context of institutional complexity, Caracas saw the stagnation of its hegemonic party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), highly dependent on profitable oil income and charismatic and personalistic leadership. It was thus that in 2013 accidental conditions made for a natural experiment: a twin alternation of incumbents in China and Venezuela, with two incoming leaders very different in terms of the origins of their mandates, their powers, and their immediate needs. In this chapter we consequently analyze the situation surrounding the parallel ascents of Xi Jinping and Nicolás Maduro, and how their particular circumstances in recent years have changed the relationship between their respective countries from one of strategic coordination to one of cautious engagement, in the process opening opportunities for greater Russian influence in Latin America.
Seguridad y asuntos internacionales: teorías, dimensiones, interdisciplinas, las Américas, amenazas, instituciones, regiones y política mundiales, 2020
Este capítulo es el primero de la obra colectiva titulada "Seguridad y asuntos Internacionales...... more Este capítulo es el primero de la obra colectiva titulada "Seguridad y asuntos Internacionales...". En él se presentan los vínculos entre los Estudios de la Seguridad Internacional y la tradición de pensamiento realista en las Relaciones Internacionales. Se aborda a los ESI a partir de distintas fases del pensamiento realista contemporáneo, desde el realismo clásico hasta el neoclásico, pasando por el neorrealismo en sus distintas vertientes. Tanto la obra en general como este primer capítulo están pensados como referencia de utilidad tanto para expertos como para estudiantes de Ciencia Política, Relaciones Internacionales y área afines.
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Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals by Víctor M Mijares
sobre cortes internacionales proveyendo evidencia sobre las dificultades que enfrentan para encauzar a violadores de derechos humanos desde el poder.
the rational institutional design and the concept of the operability of alliances. The
trajectory of the Council between 2009 and 2018, is examined through a theoretical
approximation inspired by neoclassical realism and by applying the descriptive inference
method of process tracing. The results indicate that in almost a decade, the Defense
Council of the Union of South American Nations did not achieve full operability
according to its institutional design. The evidence suggests that aspirations of national
autonomy undermined the regional security autonomy project. The article affirms that
the presence of a South American security regionalism problem resulting from national
and regional autonomy tensions generated a paradox of autonomy.
The South American Defense Council is the defense branch of the Union of South American Nations, a project driven by Brazil as the regional central power, and its goal is to become an operational alliance to create a collective defense scheme. But despite the rise of Brazil as an emerging power, the Council has not been consolidated, even worst, it has stagnated in the figure of a non-binding discussion forum for current topics and arms procurement. This paper finds that the most significant obstacles to the creation of an operative alliance in South America are: a persistent U.S. regional primacy, a competitive system of alignments, and growing extra-regional influences. The combination of these factors creates the shared purposes fracture to reduce the chance of defining common threads and interest that binds all members in a unique project of collective defense. We concluded that the limiting factors for the operation of the South American alliance are not structural, and that the development of Brazil's potential could be overcome, but in its national power risks alienating the support of neighbors, compromising the possibility of eventual regional alliance led by Brasilia.
This article sheds light on the main theoretical arguments of the debate on the incidence of the multi-polar order on international security. In order to so, it establishes the concepts of international order and security as the basis for understanding the interpretations of renowned theorists on international relations regarding the effects of multipolar order on systemic stability. The central analysis of the debate’s underlying factors, preference schemes leading to rationality, perceptions and international
uncertainty enables us to infer that the multipolar configuration of international order offers high probabilities for tension and conflict, given the existence of a proportionally direct relation between
the number of relevant international powers and the rise of alternative preference trends in national decision-making processes, a factor giving rise to important asymmetries among different perceptions and increasing uncertainty.
Oil as a source of energy has played an important role in the development of the modern State. In the case of the major powers, is proved essential as a material ba-sis for advancing in the international scale and for maintaining their status while, at the same time, it led to the creation of powerful political interests. For those States that could count on sufficient resources in order to export, the corresponding income served to finance social and political policies conceived of as stepping-stones to modernity. This article explores the structural conflict inherent in the resulting power relations and in the differing interests of the actors.
Chapters in Books by Víctor M Mijares
sobre cortes internacionales proveyendo evidencia sobre las dificultades que enfrentan para encauzar a violadores de derechos humanos desde el poder.
the rational institutional design and the concept of the operability of alliances. The
trajectory of the Council between 2009 and 2018, is examined through a theoretical
approximation inspired by neoclassical realism and by applying the descriptive inference
method of process tracing. The results indicate that in almost a decade, the Defense
Council of the Union of South American Nations did not achieve full operability
according to its institutional design. The evidence suggests that aspirations of national
autonomy undermined the regional security autonomy project. The article affirms that
the presence of a South American security regionalism problem resulting from national
and regional autonomy tensions generated a paradox of autonomy.
The South American Defense Council is the defense branch of the Union of South American Nations, a project driven by Brazil as the regional central power, and its goal is to become an operational alliance to create a collective defense scheme. But despite the rise of Brazil as an emerging power, the Council has not been consolidated, even worst, it has stagnated in the figure of a non-binding discussion forum for current topics and arms procurement. This paper finds that the most significant obstacles to the creation of an operative alliance in South America are: a persistent U.S. regional primacy, a competitive system of alignments, and growing extra-regional influences. The combination of these factors creates the shared purposes fracture to reduce the chance of defining common threads and interest that binds all members in a unique project of collective defense. We concluded that the limiting factors for the operation of the South American alliance are not structural, and that the development of Brazil's potential could be overcome, but in its national power risks alienating the support of neighbors, compromising the possibility of eventual regional alliance led by Brasilia.
This article sheds light on the main theoretical arguments of the debate on the incidence of the multi-polar order on international security. In order to so, it establishes the concepts of international order and security as the basis for understanding the interpretations of renowned theorists on international relations regarding the effects of multipolar order on systemic stability. The central analysis of the debate’s underlying factors, preference schemes leading to rationality, perceptions and international
uncertainty enables us to infer that the multipolar configuration of international order offers high probabilities for tension and conflict, given the existence of a proportionally direct relation between
the number of relevant international powers and the rise of alternative preference trends in national decision-making processes, a factor giving rise to important asymmetries among different perceptions and increasing uncertainty.
Oil as a source of energy has played an important role in the development of the modern State. In the case of the major powers, is proved essential as a material ba-sis for advancing in the international scale and for maintaining their status while, at the same time, it led to the creation of powerful political interests. For those States that could count on sufficient resources in order to export, the corresponding income served to finance social and political policies conceived of as stepping-stones to modernity. This article explores the structural conflict inherent in the resulting power relations and in the differing interests of the actors.
for an autonomous South American security governance agreement were directly connected with changes in the distribution of power at the international structural level. However, the same force that allowed the rise of the South American Defence Council limits the progress towards a more committed agreement.The multipolar paradox lies in the difficulties to make compatible the two faces of one important outcome from multipolarity: national and regional autonomies.
Pretendemos conmemorar el centenario de la I Guerra Mundial y establecer una plataforma de las causas histórico-políticas de lo que presenciaremos en los próximos meses.
gelang der UNASUR, einige nationale wie regionale Konflikte zu entschärfen beziehungsweise zu lösen. Damit wurde die Erwartung geweckt, sie werde auch künftig südamerikanische
Probleme souverän und autonom bewältigen. In der aktuellen venezolanischen Krise stößt die UNASUR jedoch an ihre Grenzen. Ihre Legitimität wird auf die Probe gestellt.
electoral y expedita está indefectiblemente unida a acuerdos políticos de gobernabilidad que faciliten una transición tutelada por la cúpula civil y militar de chavismo. Sin embargo, no todos los grupos están interesados en consentir dicha solución.
final dada la crisis de sus pilares funcional y estructural. Ello tiene causas y consecuencias tanto nacionales como internacionales, con profundas implicaciones regionales. El artículo comienza explicando las causas internas y externas que contribuyeron a la victoria electoral opositora del 6D,
para luego exponer probables escenarios de gobernabilidad democrática y las interacciones externas en el nuevo contexto.
Brazil, devoted to harmonize regional security and defense policies. For the SADC’s original promoters the highest aspiration was to become into a South American operative alliance able to create favorable conditions for a regime of regional security governance. However, national defense policies in South American are highly autonomous because of multipolarity, regional rivalries and domestic constraints, being hard to be integrated in a common defense agenda. Despite isolated efforts of bilateral or trilateral cooperation, national defense and security issues still being part of unilateral national prerogatives and even minor powers are reluctant to waive those. The international multipolar configuration in the early 21st Century is driving the South American countries to objectives beyond their relations
with the United States, but this is also fuelling policies of selective commitment among them, threatening the SADC’s cohesion, and potentially reducing its real reach on security governance.