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Re-Thinking Latin American Regional Security: The Impact of Power and Politics

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Power Dynamics and Regional Security in Latin America

Abstract

Latin American security is still viewed through a Cold War lens. Yet, the regional scenario has changed since then and is characterized by developments like the disengagement of the United States, the emergence of ‘regional powers’, the creation of ever more multilateral security institutions, and new interpretations of the concepts of regionalism and regional integration. We argue that we cannot understand the management of security challenges without accounting for regional and global power shifts and political dynamics. Therefore, the introductory chapter presents an analytical framework to assess the impact of global and regional power shifts on the regional governance of specific security challenges such as interstate disputes, internal political violence, terrorism, drug-trafficking, and illegal migration. It will also give an outlook on how the different contributions substantiate our argument.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is important to mention, however, that UNASUR did not emerge in a political vacuum, but drew to a large extent on security conceptions and practices that developed in the inter-American system since the 1940s, with the OAS at its core, as well as on bilateral experiences in security cooperation.

  2. 2.

    According to Mares (2012), the Latin American ‘hot spots’ are Colombia and its neighbors, particularly Venezuela; Nicaragua-Costa Rica; Bolivia-Chile; the Dominican Republic-Haiti; and the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Brigitte Weiffen & Rafael Duarte Villa

Authors
  1. Brigitte Weiffen
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  2. Rafael Duarte Villa
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Correspondence to Brigitte Weiffen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Brazil

    Marcial A.G. Suarez

  2. University of São Paulo , São Paulo, Brazil

    Rafael Duarte Villa

  3. University of Sao Paulo , Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Brigitte Weiffen

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Weiffen, B., Villa, R.D. (2017). Re-Thinking Latin American Regional Security: The Impact of Power and Politics. In: Suarez, M., Villa, R., Weiffen, B. (eds) Power Dynamics and Regional Security in Latin America. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57382-7_1

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