ABSTRACT
The argument advanced in this chapter is twofold. First, regional associations can in principle play a wide variety of roles, from the promotion of common regional interests to the reinforcement of domestic political projects; they may even contribute to processes of state formation and identity construction and transformation. Second, Mercosur/l has in fact played a number of such roles over the last decade, and should not be seen as a simple economic association; but at the same time the constraints imposed by its rigid structure (essentially a bilateral association between two mismatched economies whose governments are pursuing incompatible agendas) have limited the extent to which it can perform them effectively. It was able for conjunctural circumstances to contribute briefly to political stability and economic reform and integration in its early stages, but has little capacity to offer more, and may already be an obstacle to further progress on these fronts. Mercosur/l, in sum, is an ineffective regional association with little capacity to contribute to regional or global integration, and little capacity to promote other goals.
