2.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This two-credit class analyzes the political economy of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, and inter-state issues (in particular Brazil, the United States, and most recently China as big players in this region of Latin America. A core description and analysis of these countries' political and economic histories and their relations with each other as well as with the big influential countries noted above, gives way to a focus on key general policy topics common to the Southern Cone: 1) Financial and economic instability and strikingly different ways of coping with globalization (i.e. Chile and to some extent Uruguay closer to pro-globalization and orthodox management of monetary and fiscal policies versus Argentina and Paraguay, where for different reasons nationalist, anti-globalization forces have been or remain dominant); 2) Regional integration during the Cold War (analysis of Operación Cóndor) and since its end (i.e. MERCOSUR and now UNASUR); and Energy, Resources and Environment issues (i.e. from dominance of big-scale copper mining in Chile to agrofoods' exports, particulary soybeans in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) to the great potential for clean energy (grow hydro-electricity and other renewables, and the paradoxical continuation of dependence on oil and natural gas in all these countries. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>