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Prologue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2012

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Summary

Since the virtual disappearance of the Soviet threat in 1991, the Organization of American States (OAS) has been experiencing important transformations and becoming a significant actor in promoting regional inter-state cooperation and consensus. There is some evidence that indicates that the OAS is assuming new functions and taking on a more active role in setting the rules and agendas for regional governance in the hemisphere. This research found evidence that between 1991 and 2005, the OAS, together with other International Organizations (IOs), was instrumental in setting the Western Hemisphere on the right path towards developing an integration scheme around democratic norms and values. The findings in the security issue-area indicate that through the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission CICAD and the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM), the OAS is participating in the beginnings of a drug-regime development. In the good governance issue-area, legal instruments such as the Resolution 1080; oversight procedures such as the Electoral Observer Missions (EOM); intraelite negotiations mechanisms such as the Mesa processes; and bureaucracies promoting education on democracy such as the Unit for Promotion of Democracy and the Secretariat of Political Affairs (UPD/SPA) indicate that the OAS is attempting to regulate the regional democratic agenda and promote the development of a Western Hemisphere society of states. Nevertheless, future opportunities and challenges lie everywhere for Latin American civil societies and political elites to strengthen democratic institutions, and for the authorities of the OAS to assume a more active role.

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The Transformation of the Organization of American States
A Multilateral Framework for Regional Governance
, pp. vii - viii
Publisher: Anthem Press
Print publication year: 2010

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  • Prologue
  • Betty Horwitz
  • Book: The Transformation of the Organization of American States
  • Online publication: 05 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.7135/UPO9780857289490.001
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  • Prologue
  • Betty Horwitz
  • Book: The Transformation of the Organization of American States
  • Online publication: 05 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.7135/UPO9780857289490.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Prologue
  • Betty Horwitz
  • Book: The Transformation of the Organization of American States
  • Online publication: 05 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.7135/UPO9780857289490.001
Available formats
×