Regionalism is under stress. The European Union has been challenged by the Eurozone crisis, refugee flows, terrorist attacks, Euroscepticism, and Brexit. In Latin America, regional cooperation has been stagnating. Studying Europe and Latin America within a broader comparative perspective, this volume provides an analytical framework to assess stress factors facing regionalism. The contributors explore how economic and financial crises, security challenges, identity questions raised by immigration and refugee flows, the rise of populism, and shifting regional and global power dynamics have had an impact on regionalism; whether the EU crisis has had repercussions for regionalisms in other parts of the world; and to what extent the impact of stress factors is mediated by characteristics of the region that may provide elements of resilience. Written by specialists from Europe and Latin America with a shared interest in the new field of comparative regionalism, this book will be an invaluable resource for students, scholars and policy specialists in regional integration, European politics, EU studies, Latin American studies, and international relations and international law more generally.

Regionalism is under stress. The European Union has been challenged by the Eurozone crisis, refugee flows, terrorist attacks, Euroscepticism, and Brexit. In Latin America, regional cooperation has been stagnating. Studying Europe and Latin America within a broader comparative perspective, this volume provides an analytical framework to assess stress factors facing regionalism. The contributors explore how economic and financial crises, security challenges, identity questions raised by immigration and refugee flows, the rise of populism, and shifting regional and global power dynamics have had an impact on regionalism; whether the EU crisis has had repercussions for regionalisms in other parts of the world; and to what extent the impact of stress factors is mediated by characteristics of the region that may provide elements of resilience. Written by specialists from Europe and Latin America with a shared interest in the new field of comparative regionalism, this book will be an invaluable resource for students, scholars and policy specialists in regional integration, European politics, EU studies, Latin American studies, and international relations and international law more generally.

This volume offers a concise and accessible overview of the promotion and defence of democracy in the Americas, examining the nature of challenges to democracy in Latin America, the role of regional organizations as democracy promoters, and the transformation of Inter-American relations. Taking the Inter-American Democratic Charter of 2001 as a baseline it charts the evolution of the issue over the past decade. Heine and Weiffen provide a comprehensive examination of the promotion and defence of democracy in the Western Hemisphere, beginning with background information and historical antecedents, and moving on to take into consideration the specific nature of the challenges to democracy in the Americas and power shifts in the region. The authors analyze democratic norms, norm enforcement mechanisms and how they work in practice, with a particular focus on the 2009 Honduras coup.Seeking to provide a discussion that pays more attention to the role of the OAS, rather than simply focusing on US foreign policy, the authors examine whether the United States still act as regional hegemon, and how the role of emerging regional powers such as Brazil and Venezuela are challenging that position of the hegemon. This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of democratization, US-Latin American relations, international relations of Latin-America and international organizations.

This volume offers a concise and accessible overview of the promotion and defence of democracy in the Americas, examining the nature of challenges to democracy in Latin America, the role of regional organizations as democracy promoters, and the transformation of Inter-American relations. Taking the Inter-American Democratic Charter of 2001 as a baseline it charts the evolution of the issue over the past decade. Heine and Weiffen provide a comprehensive examination of the promotion and defence of democracy in the Western Hemisphere, beginning with background information and historical antecedents, and moving on to take into consideration the specific nature of the challenges to democracy in the Americas and power shifts in the region. The authors analyze democratic norms, norm enforcement mechanisms and how they work in practice, with a particular focus on the 2009 Honduras coup.Seeking to provide a discussion that pays more attention to the role of the OAS, rather than simply focusing on US foreign policy, the authors examine whether the United States still act as regional hegemon, and how the role of emerging regional powers such as Brazil and Venezuela are challenging that position of the hegemon. This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of democratization, US-Latin American relations, international relations of Latin-America and international organizations.

This open-access book presents cutting-edge research on securitization and democratic development in the OSCE Region. Gathering contributions by practitioners and researchers from various disciplines, it presents case studies and highlights recent activities of proactive engagement in democratic institution-building and responding to security threats from the Balkans to Central Asia. The volume is divided into three parts, the first of which focuses on security-related matters, armed conflicts, minorities, and women's safety, as well as the roles that civil society, foreign governments, social media, and external donors play in this area. These contributions illustrate how the OSCE's informal approach to peace, security, and securitization as norm entrepreneur is closely linked to the level of democracy among its member states. The second part presents a special section on the political implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), assessing the impact of this infrastructural program on the levels of democracy and/or autocracy in Eurasia. The third part consists of short chapters outlining future research and debates. The book will appeal to students and scholars of international relations, security studies, and the human rights-politics nexus. This is the 2022 instalment in a series of books released by the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. The OSCE works to promote Minority Protection, Security, Democratic Development and Human Rights, guided by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and to enhance securitization and development policies in Eurasia, Europe, Central Asia and North America. Since being founded in 1993, the OSCE and its agencies and departments have attracted a wealth of academic research in various fields and disciplines, ranging from economic development and election monitoring to enhancing global principles of human rights and securitization.