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Regional Integration in Latin America - The Pacific Alliance a Way Ahead
News, Posts

Building Bridges: Meeting Sponsoring by the PA

While President Trump has recently withdrawn from the TPP Agreement, not yet ratified, and announced his interest in negotiating on a bilateral basis any commercial agreement, the Pacific Alliance has made an interesting political move.  The PA has called for a meeting to take place 14-15 March in Chile.

The purpose of the meeting is gathering not only foreign affairs ministers of the TPP negotiating parties but also China, South Korea and Colombia. Although no formal commitments are expected from the ministerial summit, it will provide a forum for Asian and PA countries to discuss ways to move forward in the economic front while counter-reacting to the protectionist narrative of recent months in the US.

Continue reading

March 3, 2017by Ana Maria Palacio
Editor's choice, News, Posts

Interview to the PA Presidents: What Did They Have to Say?

The presidents of Chile, Colombia, Peru and the Mexican Secretary of Economy were interviewed on the 21 September at an event by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas.

What did they talk about that could give us an indication of their perspectives about the PA?

The discussion tackled all sort of issues including, to a large extent, domestic concerns of the PA members such as the peace agreement in Colombia and how it could increase prospects of trade in tourism services and agricultural industries, as well as a package of domestic reforms to encourage formalisation of businesses in Peru promoted by President Kuczynski. The panel members presented their views on the likelihood of Trump becoming the next US president with the Mexican Secretary bringing out a colourful remark. The crisis in Venezuela and the question of whether the PA should be doing a bit more on this subject matter was also raised. No clear common view on a positive action of the PA members in this topic was envisioned.

With this range of issues on the table, a couple of interesting points were mentioned about the PA.

President Bachelet pointed out that the main topics of interest to  work on during Chile’s pro-tempore presidency were: education, innovation, science and technology, trade facilitation, internationalisation of SMEs, the implementation of the Commercial Protocol, the cooperation agenda with the 49 observer states and finally convergence with ASEAN and APEC. The ambitious list of topics refers greatly to matters related broadly to intergovernmental cooperation, but there is still the query on the extent to which the priority topics relate to the goal of deep integration and the free movement of services, people, capital, and goods. President Bachelet did not refer to the particular instruments and mechanisms through which the priority topics will be addressed but in practice they include interesting efforts such as the SMEs Observatory (alianzapacifico.net) and an Entrepreneurial Capital Fund, the interoperability of the single window clearance systems and later mutual recognition of the authorised economic operators once the program of authorised economic operators is fully implemented by the members.

Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, referred to some aspects in which the PA should be working on in order to achieve real economic integration. He brought up services liberalisation among the PA members as a strategic issue, new ways to approach common markets more efficiently and more generally alluded to better public policies to support this integration. Despite the relevance of all the topics mentioned by Guajardo it was not clear to me how much progress the PA has made on this front and whether these topics are part of the PA agenda in the short and long term. In addition, he presented a view calling on the need to make the PA a priority for the members and the call to ‘open up to action.’ These views imply the relevance of addressing topics that are more controversial and sensitive among the PA members if deep integration is to be achieved. These topics include regulatory coordination and reduction of heterogeneity in areas like taxation regimes towards deeper capital market integration.

Finally, the signature of an agreement with ASEAN was announced during the event which hopefully could lead the PA to more concrete activities and the development of an agenda towards the enhancement of an economic relation with the Asia Pacific Region.

To see the full webcast, please visit the link below.

sources: www.as-coa.org

September 23, 2016by Ana Maria Palacio
Journal Articles, Spanish

Political Effects of Economic Interdependence among the South American Members of the Pacific Alliance

Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the unintended political effects of economic interdependence among the South American members of the Pacific Alliance. The study traces the evolution of their mutual trade in relation to the intensity of their military competitive dynamics from 2001 to 2015.

Two measurement instruments are used: an intra-regional trade index based on commerce data, and a coordination index based on arms purchases. The question is whether the formation of the Alliance and trade relations now embedded in it have had any effect on the political balance (cooperation-conflict).

Issues concerning the method are discussed as well as the implications of the research for the inter-theory debates. The last part briefly discusses the historical understanding of regional conflicts and normative aims of regional integration.

Resumen:
El texto aborda los posibles efectos políticos no intencionados de la interdependencia económica entre los miembros sudamericanos de la Alianza del Pacífico examinando el desarrollo de sus relaciones comerciales en relación con la intensidad de sus dinámicas militares de competencia entre 2001 y 2015.

Se emplean dos instrumentos de medición: un índice de comercio intragrupal basado en datos de comercio exterior y un índice de coordinación basado en datos de compras militares. Los resultados permiten observar si la creación de la Alianza del Pacífico y el comercio intragrupal han tenido efecto en el carácter de las relaciones políticas. Se discuten los alcances y limitaciones del método y las implicancias de la investigación para el debate inter-teórico. Finalmente, se discuten brevemente el carácter histórico de la conflictividad y los rasgos normativos del integracionismo regional.

Author: Juan Francisco Morales Giraldo
Spanis Title: La Alianza del Pacífico y los Efectos Políticos de la Interdependencia Económica
Full document: 2017, Morales, La Alianza del Pacífico y los Efectos Políticos de la Interdependencia Económica

August 13, 2016by Ana Maria Palacio
Journal Articles, Spanish

The Pacific Alliance and the Value of Freedoms

Abstract:
Not available

Resumen:
El autor defiende la necesidad de fomentar una integración que respete la cultura común que une a España y Latinoamérica y que se base en la construcción de instituciones sólidas capaces de promover la democracia y el desarrollo. En tal sentido, señala la importancia de la nueva Alianza del Pacífico que integra a México, Colombia, Perú y Chile y que se presenta como un modelo viable de colaboración económica basada en el Estado de Derecho y en el fortalecimiento institucional.

Author: Sergio Romero Pizarro

Spanish Title: La Alianza del Pacífico y el Valor de las Libertades
Full document: 2013, Romero, La Alianza del Pacífico y El Valor de las Libertades

 

August 10, 2016by Ana Maria Palacio
Journal Articles, Spanish

The Pacific Alliance: A Perspective from Chile

Abstract:
Not available

Resumen:
La Alianza tiene el potencial de transformar cualitativamente el espacio regional en que nos desenvolvemos en el comercio, la inversión extranjera directa, y las vinculaciones de cooperación, con una marcada orientación hacia el desarrollo de más y mejores relaciones externas del área de la Alianza, especialmente, pero no exclusivamente, en dirección al Asia-Pacífico.

Author: Manfred Wilhelmy
Spanish Title: Alianza del Pacífico: una visión desde Chile
Full document: 2013, Wilhelmy, Alianza del Pacífico-Una Visión desde Chile

August 10, 2016by Ana Maria Palacio
Journal Articles, Spanish

Foreign Policy: Continuity and Change during Sebastián Piñera’s Administration (2010-2014)

Abstract:
This paper examines foreign policy during Sebastián Piñera’s administration.
The significance of a change in the ruling coalition after several decades is analysed in three different parts. First, the paper surveys the relevant literature on presidential diplomacy in the continent, Latin America, and Chile. Then, it analyses the country’s international insertion according to the concepts of integration and open regionalism.
Thirdly, it describes foreign policy milestones of the Piñera administration examining his program, as well as commercial relations, regional and neighborhood policy and international security. Finally, it ponders the significance of that foreign policy in terms of the extent in which the country’s position in the global arena was modified or preserved.

Resumen:
El presente trabajo examina la política exterior del gobierno de Sebastián Piñera. Para ello, se sopesa en tres partes la importancia de un cambio de coalición gobernante en Chile después de varias décadas. Primero, se examina someramente la bibliografía relevante en materia de diplomacia presidencial relacionada con el continente, América Latina y Chile. A continuación, se analiza la inserción internacional del país a la luz de las nociones de integración y regionalismo abierto. En tercer lugar, se describen los hitos de la política exterior del gobierno de Piñera en función de su programa, las relaciones comerciales, los ámbitos regional y vecinal y la seguridad internacional. Finalmente se pondera el peso de esa política exterior en la medida en que preserva y modifica la posición de Chile en el panorama global y regional.

Authors: Sebastián Briones, Andrés Dockendorff
Spanish Title: Continuidad y cambio en la política exterior chilena en el gobierno de Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014)
Full document: 2014, Briones & Dockendorff, Continuidad y cambio en la política exterior chilena en el gobierno de Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014)

August 10, 2016by Ana Maria Palacio
Journal Articles, Spanish

The Irruption of the Pacific Alliance –Change in the Foreign Policy Agenda for Chile?

Abstract:
This paper takes a look at the foreign policy agenda of Chile in the context of the government action plan of candidates in 2009 and 2013. In broad terms, the agenda of this sector has been characterized by a high level of stability. However, with the right coming to power in 2010, certain issues in the agenda took precedence over others. It was in this context that Chile entered the Pacific Alliance. Until then, the change from one administration to another had not affected the balance between the core components of foreign policy. All in all, Chile’s involvement in this integration initiative was not a part of the government action plan of the right or the center-left. That is to say, it was not an alternative promoted by a public political community, as would follow from J.Kingdon’s agenda-setting theory (1995). The profile of the Pacific Alliance and the reaction caused by the country’s involvement with it in the political arena give credibility to the hypothesis that the change in the ruling faction generated a “polical window” for the country to join this initiative. All in all, as we conclude, Michelle Bachelet’s government action plan in 2013 was not aligned with Latin Americanist currents, but rather aimed at repositioning the axes of the foreign policy agenda that was in place before the Piñera administration.

Resumen:
En este artículo se examina la agenda de la política exterior chilena a la luz de los programas de gobierno de las candidaturas presidenciales en 2009 y 2013. En términos generales, la agenda de este sector se ha caracterizado por un alto nivel de estabilidad. No obstante, con la llegada de la derecha al poder en 2010 adquirieron prominencia algunos asuntos de la agenda por sobre otros. En ese contexto se produjo el ingreso de Chile a la Alianza del Pacífico. Hasta ese punto, los cambios de gobierno
no habían afectado el equilibrio entre los componentes centrales de la política exterior. Con todo, la participación de Chile en esa instancia de integración no formaba parte de los programas de gobierno ni de la derecha ni de la centro izquierda. Es decir, no constituía una alternativa que fuese promovida por una comunidad de política pública, como se sigue de la teoría de formación de la agenda de J. Kingdon (1995). Ahora bien, el perfil de la Alianza del Pacífico y la reacción que generó en el ambiente político la entrada a la misma proveen de plausibilidad a la hipótesis de que el cambio de coalición gobernante generó una “ventana política” para que el país se sumara a la iniciativa señalada. Con todo, como se concluye, el programa de gobierno de Michelle Bachelet en 2013 no proponía un giro latinoamericanista, sino más bien una reposición de los ejes de la agenda de la política exterior precedente a la administración de Piñera.

Aurthors: Andrés Dockendorff, Miguel A. López
Spanish Title: La irrupción de la Alianza del Pacífico ¿Cambio en la agenda de la política exterior chilena?
Full document: 2014, Dockendorff & López, La Irrupción de la Alianza del Pacífico ¿Cambio en la Agenda de la Política Exterior Chilena?

April 10, 2016by Ana Maria Palacio
Spanish, Working Papers

The Pacific Alliance: Scope, Competitiveness, and Implications for Latin America

Abstract:
Not available

Resumen:
La Alianza del Pacífico (ap) como proyecto de integración y cooperación económica y comercial latinoamericana –inspirado en la simplicidad de las ideaseconómicas neoliberales del corpus ideológico del Consenso de Washington– surge en un contexto de múltiples intentos fallidos de integración regional. A esto debe añadirse la degradación del potencial económico de los países integrantes de la AP, directamente relacionada con la forma en que los gobiernos han aplicado su estrategia de crecimiento económico en la región desde mediados de los ochenta; especialización en la producción y exportación de manufacturas. En este contexto cabe preguntarse ¿cuáles serán, entonces, las fortalezas de la integración regional AP la ap frente a las potencias asiáticas?

En el contexto latinoamericano, la AP y el mercosur ilustran las nuevas líneas de división de América Latina; las diferentes visiones y tendencias de la economía y el comercio perfilan una división “vertical” de la región. Con este criterio se perfilan dos Américas Latinas: la del Atlántico, que desconfía de la globalización, instrumenta una integración restrictiva y otorga un mayor papel al Estado en la economía, y la del Pacífico que opta por el libre mercado y comercio.

Desde una visión de política exterior, la AP podría ser interpretada como un intento de restructuración de la política latinoamericana de México, sin embargo no parece demasiado factible que esta iniciativa pueda erigirse en una estrategia suficiente para que el país recupere los espacios perdidos en la región; menos aún, para construir un liderazgo regional.

Authors: José Luis León Manríquez, Juan José Ramírez Bonilla
Spanish Title: La Alianza del Pacífico. Alcances, competitividad e implicaciones para América Latina
Full document: 2014, Manríquez & Ramírez, La Alianza del Pacífico. Alcances, competitividad e implicaciones para América Latina

April 10, 2016by Ana Maria Palacio
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Hello my name is Ana Maria Palacio. I have a PhD from the University of Melbourne. This blog is about my thesis project, the Pacific Alliance.

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