1. Latin American States as International Actors
Capabilities, Nationalism and Policy Making Structure

2. Who is the Highwayman?

3. I. CAPABILITIES OF LATIN AMERICAN STATES

4. Capabilities: Geography
Variability in size
Natural barriers
Vast Empty Spaces
Relative isolation from major geopolitical events

5. Capabilities: Population
million in the entire region
1900 – 60 million
1970 – 300 million
2000 – 600 million

6. Capabilities: Social Dimensions
Gaps between the classes great
Limited social mobility
Skin color and class strongly correlated
Class conflict can limit coherent foreign policy

7. Capabilities: Political Dimensions
Instability makes countries vulnerable
Mexico in the early twentieth century
Venezuela during the 1960’s
Argentina in the 1980’s
Instability also makes coherent foreign policy difficult

8. Capabilities: Military
Class structure usually replicated in the military
Limited social mobility
Different social classes dominate within different services
Can impact of combat effectiveness of the country’s armed forces
Training missions from great powers
Near nuclear capability

9. Capabilities: Economic
Raw materials
ISI efforts only partially successful
Technology
Debt

10. II. NATIONALISM
CLASSICAL EXPRESSION: GROUP CONSCIOUSNESS IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH AND GIVE SUPREME LOYALTY TO THE ABSTRACTION OF THE NATION

11. NATIONALISM: EARLY EXPRESSION
Criollos vs. peninsulares
Brazil: loyalty to members of the Braganza family
Simón Bolívar and Gran Colombia
Liberalism as nationalism in early 19th century Latin America

12. Modernization & Nationalism
Modernism – usually implies catch up with the North Atlantic
Nativism – reaction to modernism
Anti-Yankeeism
Economic nationalism
Military socialism
Revolutionary nationalism

13. Post-Cold War Nationalism
Strengthen democracy
Regional cooperation agreements
Free trading systems
Anti-drug, anti-arms smuggling
Continuing concern with the United States

14. Nationalism and the New States
Island Caribbean
Guayana

15. III. Foreign Policy Decision Structure of the Latin American States

16. Primacy of Domestic Politics
Concern for social justice
Concern for economic autonomy
Concern with technological advancement
Historic overlay of great power conflicts on the region

17. Changing Domestic Input Channels
Traditional oligarchy long monopolized foreign policy
New industrialists broke the monopoly of traditional oligarchy
Labor unions usually in alliance with the industrialists
Peasants and urban poor clamored for improved socio-economic conditions
Roman Catholic church

18. Decision-making Agents
19th century foreign policy highly personalistic
Caudillos
Barão de Rio Branco
Personalism continued throughout the twentieth century
Foreign Ministers usually make day to day policy
Other bureaucracies such as the Foreign Trade Institutes

19. Quality of Latin American Foreign Services Varies
Mexico and Argentina have respectable foreign services
Smaller and medium countries have often had highly politicized foreign services
Example of Venezuela in the transition from the Pérez Jiménez dictatorship to Punto Fijo democracy

20. Quality of Latin American Foreign: Brasil
Itamaraty of Brazil is the most professional
Brazilian territory and international status advanced over past century by Itamaraty
National examinations
Entrace based on merit but traditional sectors have had advantages
Concern over access to high quality education excluding minorities