A Theoretical and Conceptual Approach for the Analysis of the Pacific Alliance

Abstract

In the context of the recent processes of regionalization in Latin America as a response to the increasing multipolarity and interdependence that identify the contemporary global scenario, a new map of regional integration that builds both upon and questions the traditional paradigms of international insertion is being formed. The Pacific Alliance (PA) stands out as a novel regional project of open regionalism, with specific features that provide it with an identity still under construction. The purpose of this article is to identify the continuities and ruptures evidenced by the PA in terms of open regionalism as its underlying theoretic-conceptual framework. The article concludes that the pa has been configured as a distinct process compared to previous experiences with open regionalism in Latin America, with specific features that do not allow reducing the understanding of this regional actor to a typical case of open regionalism.