Latin America: Integration or Fragmentation
How does one shape and define the integration of Latin America, taking into account factors like fluctuations in sub-regional integration, the growing gap between North America and South America, the interests of outside actors like China and the European Union, different strategies for maintaining relations with the United States, the competition for or lack of leadership, domestic and foreign problems that influence regional security,the resurgence of energy as a priority in the hemisphere, and the role of poverty and inequality on the international agenda? These questions served as a guideline for the essays that were prepared within the framework of this project, carried out by the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM), the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Vidanta Foundation. The articles were written over a period of almost two years and their different versions were presented and discussed in three workshopsthat were held in Washington DC (2006), Nuevo Nayarit, Nayarit (2007) and Mexico City (2007).
The main objective of the project was to offer a reflection on the position of Latin America in the international system, the main opportunities and challenges that the world order presents to the region in the first decades of the 21st century, and the state of, and trends in, intra-regional relations, with special emphasis on the factors that block Latin American integration and cooperation.
The final projects were compiled in a book entitled "América latina: Integración o fragmentación?" by Ricardo Lagos (Edhasa, Buenos Aires, 2008). The main conclusions of the book were presented in the international seminar "Latin America: Integration or Fragmentation?"that took place in the Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros in Mexico City on April 16 and 17 2007,which more than 1,500 people attended.
Workshop
First workshop "Latin America: Strategies and External Alliances,"Washington, DC, 2006.
"Final Rreview of Work on Integration and Fragmentation in Latin America," Mexico City, 2007.
Seminars
International seminar "América latina: Integración o fragmentación?",Mexico City, 2007