Unasur: The Newest 'Global Player' or Neo-Boliverian Fantasy?

24 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2016 Last revised: 21 Apr 2017

See all articles by Sara Ross

Sara Ross

Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law

Date Written: March 28, 2011

Abstract

The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) presents the most recent vision for trade liberalization and political, economic, and social integration amongst South American countries. Unasur has set 2019 as the year by which it hopes to accomplish many of its goals, such as full regional integration and tariff elimination. But, as 2019 slowly approaches, it remains to be seen whether Unasur will in fact be able to reach these goals. While Unasur’s future is certainly compelling, before heralding Unasur as the long-awaited panacea for pure regional integration, important lessons can be drawn from previous attempts at and iterations of South American regional integration as well as from the model upon which Unasur is structured — the European Union. But what are these lessons, and how do they apply to Unasur? This article will explore the attempts and/or models of Regional Trade Agreements that led up to the creation of Unasur and will then turn to an assessment of Unasur’s successes, failures, the challenges it must face, and an analysis of potential lessons that Unasur may draw from other Regional Trade Agreements.

Keywords: UNASUR, International law, European Union

JEL Classification: K11, K33, K20

Suggested Citation

Ross, Sara, Unasur: The Newest 'Global Player' or Neo-Boliverian Fantasy? (March 28, 2011). (Fall 2014) 30:1 Connecticut Journal of International Law 29. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2755445

Sara Ross (Contact Author)

Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law ( email )

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