ALBA
Ett regionalt integrationsprojekt med goda förutsättningar?
AbstractEssay in Political Science, autumn 2010. ?ALBA ? A regional integration project with good conditions?? Autor: Anna Sjögren. Course: Political Science, C-level, Tutor: Sten Berglund An essential part of the political science research on regional integration has been about why states join economic unions and what forces drive the process of integration. This essay is a case study on the Latin American regional integration project called ALBA. The purpose is to, from the ideas of the swiss political scientist Walter Mattli, investigate if ALBA has the conditions to be a successful integration group. To reach the purpose two questions have been asked: 1) What does the demand for regional integration in Latin America looks like? 2) What does the supply of regional integration in Latin America looks like? My methodological approach has been to read scientific articles and news articles that deal with ALBA and to see what they say about the conditions that are crucial according to Mattli. The result shows that the market in the region is not so diversified but that the member states have been doing some trading with each other. A lot of the trade has involved oil and that has effected the cooperation. The global financial crisis has implyed challenges to ALBA, as the oil price has fallen. But it has also given the alliance more legitimacy when the economic system that ALBA criticize has showed its deficiencies. To become a long-term project ALBA should end its dependence on oil. In Hugo Chávez ALBA has a rather undisputed leader. That Cuba, since the start of ALBA, has changed its political leader can have a significance. Due to the political orientation of ALBA the deveopment in the member states is crucial for the future of the union. That Brazil has chosen not to be a member of ALBA has both advantages and disadvantages for the alliance. Chávez has avoided a putative struggle of power but ALBA would probably be stronger if the region's economic, demographic, and territorial giant was participating.