Abstract This article’s main objective is to examine the political economy of the economic reforms implemented in the 1990s and examine the main factors which explain India’s economic rise in the 21st century. We argue that the productive investments and the country’s opening to the global economy have contributed to economic growth, but that this rise leads to the formation of a “dual economy.” Continuing reforms thereby become necessary for India in order to achieve inclusive growth and structural transformation, overcome the dual economy challenge and gain strength in the international system.

Resumo Nesse artigo, investigo o regionalismo Latino Americano do colapso do Projeto da ALCA à emergência da Aliança do Pacífico, no período de 2005 a 2015. Para a maior parte da pesquisa, utilizo os principais blocos econômicos da região, o Mercosul e a Aliança do Pacífico, como unidades de análise. Os principais resultados identificados são de que, desde o colapso da ALCA, os processos de integração se tornaram mais heterogêneos; o Mercosul e a AP contrastam um com o outro em termos político-econômicos; o projeto brasileiro de estabelecer um regionalismo pós-liberal/pós-hegemônico na América do Sul não teve sucesso; e que a demanda regional por produtos brasileiros está em risco de deslocamento a outros mercados no médio para longo prazo, debilitando ainda mais suas aspirações de liderança regional. Tudo isso evidencia o regionalismo econômico descentrado – isto é, uma forma de regionalismo na qual não há um único Estado no seu comando central, ou com seguidores suficientes para assumir uma liderança e estabelecer uma concepção predominante de integração e cooperação regional. Outros fatores que contribuem para essa descentralização são o baixo desempenho econômico de Brasil e México, e a mudança de postura do governo dos EUA em relação às relações comerciais com a América Latina. Apesar disso, argumento que os países latino-americanos precisam fortalecer a cooperação dentro e entre esses blocos regionais, focando na promoção da sua competitividade global conjunta. Isso requer mais cooperação e democracia do que coerção, e mais redes e conectividade do que hierarquias.

Abstract In this article, I examine Latin American regionalism from the collapse of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) to the emergence and development of the Pacific Alliance (PA) in the period 2005 to 2015. For most of the research, I use the main economic blocs in the region, Mercosur as well as the PA, as the units of analysis. The main findings are that since the FTAA’s collapse, integration processes have become more heterogeneous; that Mercosur and the PA contrast with one another in political-economic terms; that the Brazilian project of establishing a post-liberal/post-hegemonic regionalism in South America has not succeeded; and that regional demand for Brazilian products is at risk of shifting to other markets in the medium to long term, thus further undermining its aspirations towards regional leadership. All of this is evidence of a decentred economic regionalism – that is, a form of regionalism in which no single state is in central command, or has enough followers to assume leadership and establish a dominant conception of integration and regional cooperation. Other factors contributing to this decentralisation are the poor economic performance of Brazil and Mexico, and the US government’s changed attitude towards trade relations with Latin America. Despite this, I argue that Latin American countries do need to strengthen cooperation within and among these regional blocs, aimed at promoting their joint global competitiveness. This will require cooperation rather than coercion, and networks and connectivity rather than hierarchies.

Although integration has been a part of South American discourse for decades, the level at which it is actually promoted remains far from that which is observed in dynamic production and trading centers. Given transformations in global trade, the phenomenon of global value chains is, in fact, very regionalized. We ask whether the trading pattern of Mercosur countries is aligned with approaches based on regional value chain, and if not, how it differs and why. In our evidence and analysis, we primarily use traditional gross trade data and Trade in Value Added (TiVA) indicators, and we look more at countries' profiles. We show that there has been a decrease in Brazilian trade with Mercosur, with manufactured exports being the main reason for the decline. We indicate that, in addition to the effect of China in the 2000s, there has been a structural movement of Mercosur economies, mainly regarding Brazil, which supports a hypothesis of primarization or deindustrialization. Our results show that Brazil and Argentina are both relatively closed to foreign trade, as well as global and regional value chains, which makes them even more poorly integrated with one another. This reinforces what we call Mercosur's 'introspective' model of integration, making it less outward-oriented, which is divergent with what is observed when regional value chains are encouraged.