ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the transformations in Central American regionalism and explains the trends that shape regional cooperation in Central America. It also explains how open regionalism has settled in the region as the inner logic of regional cooperation. The chapter also presents an empirical examination of how post-liberalism has remained mainly rhetoric in Central America. The empirical examination underlines that in Central America, despite some attempts at alternative regionalism, pragmatism mainly prevailed. The crisis resolution efforts in Central America put the integration process on a new path. Beyond trade, the agenda included a great variety of items, such as social, environmental, and security issues. Due to their small markets, the Central American states are mainly pragmatic regarding their strategy of internationalization. The chapter considers the Atlantic versus Pacific divide and argues that the failure of post-liberalism in the region is a complex combination of asymmetries, a constancy of social and economic structure, and the result of pragmatic politics.