This book examines conflict resolution efforts in Latin America by the Organization of American States (OAS) over the past fifty years by exploring the relationship of the United States with other member states within the context of the OAS. The book focuses on the impact of institutional factors on the influence that member states are able to wield within the organization. This innovative theoretical approach yields general insights into organizational behaviour and interstate relations within an international organization. The examination of thirty-one cases provides a wealth of empirical data and facilitates cross case comparisons.

This book examines conflict resolution efforts in Latin America by the Organization of American States (OAS) over the past fifty years by exploring the relationship of the United States with other member states within the context of the OAS. The book focuses on the impact of institutional factors on the influence that member states are able to wield within the organization. This innovative theoretical approach yields general insights into organizational behaviour and interstate relations within an international organization. The examination of thirty-one cases provides a wealth of empirical data and facilitates cross case comparisons.

This volume in the Global Institutions series will focus on the history, decision making procedures, relevance, functions, and operations of the Organization of American States. The organization will be analyzed in the context of the web of international and regional institutions that deal with global governance and international politics in the Western Hemisphere. The book will provide information and guidance for practitioners, scholars, and students on the various aspects of the OAS.

Almost every aspect of American foreign policy has been subject to reexamination in the aftermath of the cold war. The struggle with the Soviet Union was a prism that shaped our perceptions of all international relationships, including those with the nations closest to us. Indeed, the mix of U.S. interests and goals in the Western Hemisphere probably has changed not only in terms of what it was during any previous period. As a practical matter, in this hemisphere the Untied States has long been what it now is globally, the sole superpower. But its military preponderance did not then mean and does not now mean that it can enforce its will in every nation. Nor does the term superpower turn out to mean that the United States can expect to regain ( or sustain, depending on whose numbers you use) its overwhelming global economic preeminence. After World War II, the Americas, the one area of long-term U.S. hegemony, provided a justification for continuing an ancient habit of sporadic intervention inthe internal affairs of neighboring states. Today, however, we are at an early state of reassessment for the United States and the role we will play in the Americas region in the post-cold war era. Indeed, we are in the process of learning just what such organizations can and cannot do in a world without the certainties of the cold war. In some cases--NATO is the obvious example--it is not at all clear that a given institution will survive in anything like its previous form. In others--the United Nations clearly comes to mind--a broadened and heightened role in the world is already underway, likely to continue, and perhaps even to expand. And still others, --such as the Organization of AmericanStates (OAS)--it may be that the sort of partnership often described in rhetoric now has a chance to become reality. This volume focuses on the special challenges facing the OAS in the post-cold war era. It's authors identify new opportunities for the institution to extend

This book explores the extent and significance of the transformation of the Organisation of American States since 1991: its roots, the reasons for and extent of its emergence, and the role that the organisation currently plays in the promotion of regional governance in the two key issue-areas of security and the defense and promotion of democratic norms and principles of good governance. By assessing where the OAS has succeeded and failed, Horwitz provides an in-depth explanation of how cooperation and consensus works in the Inter-American system.

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism - the first of its kind - offers a systematic and wide-ranging survey of the scholarship on regionalism, regionalization, and regional governance. Unpacking the major debates, leading authors of the field synthesize the state of the art, provide a guide to the comparative study of regionalism, and identify future avenues of research. Twenty-seven chapters review the theoretical and empirical scholarship with regard to the emergence of regionalism, the institutional design of regional organizations and issue-specific governance, as well as the effects of regionalism and its relationship with processes of regionalization. The authors explore theories of cooperation, integration, and diffusion explaining the rise and the different forms of regionalism. The handbook also discusses the state of the art on the world regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Eurasia, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Various chapters survey the literature on regional governance in major issue areas such as security and peace, trade and finance, environment, migration, social and gender policies, as well as democracy and human rights. Finally, the handbook engages in cross-regional comparisons with regard to institutional design, dispute settlement, identities and communities, legitimacy and democracy, as well as inter- and transregionalism.

This exciting new handbook provides a global overview of the process of democratization, offering chapter by chapter discussion at both the country and regional levels and examining the interaction between the domestic and external factors that affect the progression of countries from authoritarian to democratic rule. Bringing together 29 key experts in the field, the work is designed to contrast the processes and outcomes of democratic reform in a wide range of different societies, evaluating the influence of factors such as religion, economic development, and financial resources. It is structured thematically into four broad sections: Section I provides a regional tour d’horizon of the current state of democratisation and democracy in eight regions around the world Section II examines key structures, processes and outcomes of democratisation and democracy Section III focuses on the relationship between democratisation and international relations through examination of a range of issues and actors including: the third and fourth waves of democracy, political conditionality, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and the Organisation of African States Section IV Examines the interaction between democratisation and development with a focus on poverty and inequality, security, human rights, gender, war, and conflict resolution. A comprehensive survey of democratization across the world, this work will be essential reading for scholars and policy-makers alike.