ABSTRACT
Four countries of South America—Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—joined together to create the Common Market of South America (Mercado Comun del Sur, or MERCOSUR) in March 1991, the most ambitious attempt yet toward regional integration in Latin America. Drawing upon the concepts in political economy and international relations, this chapter focuses upon the political motivations and processes behind MERCOSUR. Over the last 15 years, scholars involved with international relations theory and political economy have increasingly turned their attention to the role of institutional cooperation in the area of international trade. According to one study on the subject, intraregional cooperation is a function of three broad considerations: political/security concerns; expectation of gains from liberalizing international trade; and expectation of gains from regionalizing production and the international transfer of capital and technology. In its first years of existence, MERCOSUR has achieved remarkable results, politically and economically.
