ABSTRACT
Several states in the region are actively resorting to different types of minilateral instruments in pursuit of traditional as well as new foreign economic policy goals. Two of these minilateral instruments have proved particularly disruptive of patterns of regional economic governance laid down in 1990s. One of these instruments is 'cross-regionalism', which refers to the new practice or strategy of negotiating multiple parallel bilateral trade agreements with partners belonging to different regions. The other minilateral instrument is Pacific Alliance (PA), a formal regional organization established by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru in 2012. These two types of minilateral institutions are worth closer examination not only because they represent a significant deviation from traditional governance practices, but also because their appearance is profoundly transforming South America's economic governance architecture. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of developments that may indicate that the tandem cross-regionalism/Pacific Alliance is on its way to becoming a dominant modality of economic governance in South America.
