Abstract

BOTTO, Mercedes Isabel. Mercosur and its crisis: explanations for the failure/success of South American regional integration efforts. E&c [online]. 2017, vol.2, n.5, pp.155-176. ISSN 2477-9245.  https://doi.org/10.37228/estado_comunes.v2.n5.2017.57.

Mercosur today traverses its most severe crisis. All Governments, without exception, have spoken about the need to retrace the previous commitments, turning the customs union into a mere free trade area. This is not the first crisis and it does not predict the end of the block. However, leads us to ask about the why of this zigzagging course that contributes to the loss of legitimacy and credibility among political elites and public opinion in general. For the majority of scholars of political science and/or the international economy, the explanation for this failure lies in the absence of political will and structural complementarity between Member countries. The idea that we seek to demonstrate in these pages is that these explanations are valid and even complementary, they are insufficient In this regard, we hold, the need to overcome the theories which rely on endogenous factors to include exogenous factors such as the external dependency, financial uncertainty and changing strategies of transnational corporations exert a decisive weight fluctuations that characterize American integration efforts.

Keywords : Regional Integration; Latin America; Mercosur; hegemonic theories; external dependence..

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