An economic road to peace, a peaceful road for growth: regional integration through the side door in Western Europe and South America

This article provides a historical comparison between initial integration strategies in Western Europe in the 1950s and South America in the 1980s. In both cases, regional leaders constrained by structural determinants were forced to make the first move towards regionalization outside of their primary area of interest. That is, Europeans seeking pacification and the establishment of a “United Europe” negotiated a common market for French and German coal and steel industries, whereas South Americans, trying to alleviate their debt-ridden economies, negotiated as the first regional agreement of the democratic period Argentine-Brazilian nuclear cooperation. Why if the primary regional goal for the Europeans was sustained peace did they agree on a commercial pact? By the same token, why did Argentines and Brazilians negotiate nuclear integration, when the economic problems of the two countries were so urgent? This article answers these questions by placing the key players of the two regions in their historical context, showing that in both cases the dominant political strategy was “aim low to score high.”Este artigo apresenta uma comparação histórica entre as estratégias de integração regional na Europa Ocidental nos anos 50 e na América do Sul nos anos 80. Em ambos os casos, os líderes regionais iniciaram o processo de integração regional salientando áreas de interesse periférica. Assim, europeus em busca de pacificação negociaram um mercado comum do carvão e o aço entre a Alemanha e a França, enquanto sul-americanos, visando melhorar as suas frágeis economias, negociaram um acordo de cooperação nuclear entre Argentina e Brasil. Mas, se o primeiro objectivo para os europeus era a paz, porquê é que negociaram um acordo comercial? Da mesma forma, porquê é que Argentinos e Brasileiros negociaram a integração nuclear quando os seus problemas económicos eram tão urgentes? O artigo responde a estas perguntas situando os actores no seu contexto histórico, mostrando que em ambas regiões a estratégia dominante foi a de “aspirar a pouco para conseguir muito”

Managing Security in a Zone of Peace: Brazil´s Soft Approach to Regional Governance

Given Brazil’s regional prevalence, its low, late and soft investment in regional security governance appears puzzling. We approach the puzzle through an analysis of contextual features, institutional overlap and policy networks, especially regarding nuclear energy and the environment. Our findings show that Brazil’s behavior is explained by a combination of low regional risks, scarce domestic resources, a legalistic regional culture of dispute settlement, and transgovernmental networks that substitute for formal interstate cooperation and deep regional institutions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Redes transnacionales y la adopción de bosques modelos en Argentina

How are international environmental ideas adopted locally? We an- swer this question by examining the adoption and development of the model forest idea in Argentina since the late 1990s. The concept of model forest was born in Canada in 1991 as the brand name of a new national program aimed at promoting the building of local-level governance processes and arrangements for sustainable forest management. The idea soon started trav- elling worldwide thanks to the Canadian international cooperation agen cies initiatives and became a benchmark of UN programs. Argentina was an early adopter of the model forest idea: in 1996 the Argentine Secretaria for the Environment signed a letter of intent with the International Model For est Network. As a result, six model forests formed throughout the country between 1998 and 2008. We argue that transnational networks of bureau- crats, advocates, and stakeholders help explain how natural resources gover- nance programs travel across countries. We distinguish more technical-driven adoptions from societal-driven ones, as a function of existing levels of con- flict. We expect technical-driven adoptions to take place in contexts of lower levels of conflict and societal-driven adoptions in contexts of higher levels of conflict. This paper is a first step in a broader project that compares the adoption and evolution of community-based forests in Latin America.¿Cómo son adoptadas localmente las ideas ambientales transnacionales? Respondemos esta pregunta mediante el examen de la adopción y el desarrollo de la idea de bosque modelo en Argentina desde la segunda parte de los años 1990. El concepto de bosque modelo nació en Canadá en 1991 como la etiqueta de un nuevo programa nacional orientado a promover la construcción de procesos y arreglos de gobernanza para el manejo sostenible de bosques en el nivel local. La idea pronto comenzó a viajar a través del mundo gracias a las iniciativas de las agencias canadienses de cooperación internacional y se convirtió en una referencia de programas de las Naciones Unidas. Argentina fue una adoptante temprana de la idea de bosque modelo: en 1996 la secretaría ambiental nacional firmó una carta de intención con la Red Internacional de Bosques Modelo y comenzó a aplicar la idea en distintos puntos del país. Como resultado, seis bosques modelos se formaron a lo largo del país entre 1998 y 2008. Argumentamos que las redes transnacionales de burócratas, promotores e interesados directos ayudan a entender cómo los programas de gobernanza de recursos naturales viajan a través de los países. En función de los niveles de conflicto existentes en los lugares de adopción, distinguimos dos tipos de adopciones: aquellas más impulsadas técnicamente y aquellas impulsadas socialmente. Esperamos que las adopciones impulsadas técnicamente tendrán lugar en contextos de menores niveles de conflicto y las adopciones impulsadas socialmente en contextos de mayores niveles de conflicto. Este trabajo constituye un primer paso de un proyecto más amplio que busca comparar la adopción y evolución de bosques comunitarios en América Latina.Fil: Gutierrez, Ricardo Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Política y Gobierno; ArgentinaFil: Gabay, Monica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable. Secretaría de Control y Monitoreo Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Alcañiz, Isabella. University of Maryland; Estados Unido

Managing Security in a Zone of Peace: Brazil's Soft Approach to Regional Governance

Brazil’s home region has two peculiarities: first, it is essentially fuzzy as its extension and membership have changed overtime; second, regardless of its limits, its inner core has been characterized by a long period of interstate peace. These factors have led to two outcomes: first, high politics has been conducted through diplomatic rather than military means; second, region-building has remained under the strictest control of the governments rather than becoming self-sustaining. Regional public goods have been mostly defined on the negative, especially as the avoidance of negative externalities, and only recently has Brazil started to invest in the creation of a governance framework that keep extra-regional powers away. Yet, structural limitations and instrumental constraints have limited Brazilian efforts and turned South America into a still peaceful but increasingly divergent sub-region. Through an analysis of institutional overlap and policy networks, especially regarding nuclear energy and the environment, this paper shows that Brazil’s low, late and soft investment in regional security governance is explained by a combination of low regional risks, scarce domestic resources, a legalistic culture of dispute settlement, and transgovernmental networks that substitute for intense interstate cooperation and deep regional institutions