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301. From Rivalry to Mutual Trust: The Othering Process between Bolivia and Chile

Author:
Leslie Wehner
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Bolivia and Chile live in a culture of rivalry as a consequence of the Nitrate War (1879 ‐ 1883). In each country's case, the construction of the other as a threat, a rival and/or inferior has shaped the discursive articulation of the bilateral relationship. Whereas the culture of rivalry is more evident in Bolivia because of its aspiration to alter the border, Chile's status ‐ quo position, which stresses that there are no pending issues with Bolivia, as well as its construction of itself as superior, also represents rivalrous behavior. The perception of Chile as a threat and rival became especially evident in Bolivia during these two countries' bilateral negotiations to export gas to and through Chile (gas crisis from 2001 ‐ 05). However, since Evo Morales and Michelle Bachelet took office in Bolivia (2006 ‐ present) and in Chile (2006 ‐ 10), respectively, they have sought to change this culture of rivalry to one of friendship by constructing discursive articulations of self and other based on the principle of building mutual trust. Such a change in the form of othering is only possible to understand within the context of a crisis of meanings. The new approach of othering the counterpart as a friend has filled the void of meaning left by the crisis of discursive articulations of othering the counterpart as a rival, a threat and/or inferior.
Topic:
Political Theory and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
South America, Chile, and Bolivia

302. Hydrocarbons in the Amazon: Awakening Old Inequalities

Author:
Patricia Vasquez
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Private oil companies invested $800 million in Peru in 2009 alone, and another $1 billion is planned for investments in natural gas developments between 2010-20131, as Peru is rapidly on its way to becoming Latin America's first exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Energy Policy, Social Stratification, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and Peru

303. Latin America and the Global Economic Crisis

Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
An overview of the region up to 30 January 2009 by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (cepal) argues that the larger economies have been more directly affected by the global economic crisis (because in general they are more integrated with the global markets, especially finance), but are also better equipped to respond to it. In particular, Cepal sees South America as diverging from Central America and the Caribbean, which seem to be both less resilient in terms of their economies, and more exposed to the slump in the USA. They are being driven back to aid as the last/only resort. Mexico is in a category of its own, the most exposed to the US downturn, but as a large economy and an oil exporter, better placed to withstand the downturn than its Caribbean basin neighbours.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and Caribbean

304. The North–South divide and security in the Western Hemisphere: United States–South American relations after September 11 and the Iraq war

Author:
Mario E Carranza
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
This paper examines the economics-security nexus in US policy toward South America, and the implications for South America of the 'securitization' of US foreign economic policy during the Bush administration. There has always been a tight linkage between the US foreign economic and security agendas but the real issue is the degree of 'tightness' at a given point in time. After the Alliance for Progress lost its way the United States tended to pursue its economic and security interests in South America in separate tracks, even if preventing Soviet intrusions in the region remained in the background. Yet after the collapse of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations in 2004 a US strategy of 'divide and conquer' through bilateral trade deals has been accompanied by a 'securitization' discourse and there are some indications that it may 'securitize' as a new threat the social movements and neopopulist regimes that oppose neoliberal economic policies. The paper discusses the limits of the securitization thesis. The conclusion examines the future of US-South American relations and argues that the United States needs to renew its commitment to genuine multilateralism and re-engage the region to establish an effective and lasting partnership for dealing with common economic and security challenges in the twenty-first century.
Topic:
Security and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, America, and South America

305. Haiti: Is Economic Security Possible if Diplomats and Donors Do Their Part?

Author:
Robert Perito
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
In 2009, Haiti has been the subject of an unprecedented diplomatic initiative led by the United Nations. In rapid succession, Haiti received visits from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the UN Security Council, former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and numerous senior delegations from Caribbean and South American countries. In April, Haiti was the subject of an international donors' conference hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank that reaffirmed previous commitments and pledged $324 million in new economic assistance. The visits and the donors' conference were preceded by a UN sponsored report by Oxford economist and bestselling author Paul Collier on specific steps that could help Haiti achieve economic security.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
South America, Caribbean, and Haiti

306. Towards a Sustainable Cocoa Chain: Power and possibilities within the cocoa and chocolate sector

Author:
Jan Cappelle
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The cocoa tree is an important source of income for millions of farming families in equatorial regions. Cocoa originates in the river valleys of the Amazon and the Orinoco in South America. Its discoverers, the Maya people, gave it the name 'cocoa' (or 'God's food'). Cocoa was introduced to Europe in the fifteenth century. Cocoa imports were heavily taxed, and as a result it was consumed as a drink only by the wealthy. Investment from Great Britain and The Netherlands, combined with the launch of the chocolate bar in 1842 by Cadbury, resulted in a greater demand for chocolate. This led to the gradual expansion of cocoa production, spreading to Africa in 1870.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Britain, Africa, Europe, South America, Netherlands, and Amazon Basin

307. Failed Presidencies: Identifying and Explaining a South American Anomaly

Author:
Kathryn Hochstetler and Margaret E. Edwards
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Are presidential democracies inherently unstable and prone to breakdown? Recent work on Latin America suggests that the region has seen the emergence of a new kind of instability, where individual presidents do not manage to stay in office to the end of their terms, but the regime itself continues. This article places the Latin American experiences in a global context, and finds that the Latin American literature helps to predict the fates of presidents in other regions. The first stage of a selection model shows that presidents who are personally corrupt and preside over economic decline in contexts where democracy is paired with lower levels of GDP/capita are more likely to face challenges to their remaining in office for their entire terms. For the challenged presidents in this set, the risk of early termination increases when they use lethal force against their challengers, but decreases if they are corrupt. These factors help account for the disproportionately large number of South American presidents who have actually been forced from office, the “South American anomaly” of the title.
Political Geography:
South America and Latin America

308. Bolivia: Climate change, poverty and adaptation

Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Bolivia is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change for six basic reasons: It is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and suffers from one of the worst patterns of inequality. Low-income groups in developing countries are the most exposed to climate change impacts. It is the country in South America with the highest percentage of indigenous people, where much of the poverty and inequality is concentrated. It is one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world, with a wide variety of ecosystems that are vulnerable to different impacts from climate change. More than half of the country is Amazonian, with high levels of deforestation which adds to the vulnerability to flooding. Located in a climatically volatile region, it is one of the countries in the world most affected by 'natural' disasters in recent years. It is home to about twenty per cent of the world's tropical glaciers, which are retreating more quickly than predicted by many experts.
Topic:
Climate Change and Development
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, Bolivia, and Amazon Basin

309. Creating Multilevel Security Governance in South America

Author:
Daniel Flemes and Michael Radseck
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
South America's security agenda demands the simultaneous management of domestic crises, interstate conflicts and transnational threats. Though located at different systemic levels (national, international, transnational), the three conflict clusters are often interrelated and tend to overlap in the region's border areas. The region's policy makers, aware of this highly complex agenda and in spite of their striking differences, have tended to build regional structures of authority that coordinate, manage and rule collective responses to these threats. In addition, the unilateral, bilateral and multilateral structures and the region's capabilities to solve conflicts have become more important than the respective inter‐ American bodies over the past decade. Given this shift in the management of regional security affairs, we ask if a multilevel approach on the part of an overarching security architecture is more effective than separate governance schemes regarding each specific security threat. Since neither the traditional models of power balancing and alliance building nor the security‐community approach can sufficiently explain the region's security dynamics, we assume and provide evidence that different systems of security governance overlap and coexist in South America.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
South America and Latin America

310. Surplus Arms in South America

Author:
Aaron Karp
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world's civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms.
Topic:
Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, War, Armed Struggle, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
South America