Paper short abstract:

The paper analyzes the political economy of energy and physical integration in South America, identifying the domestic and international factors which are hindering the advance of the agenda.

Paper long abstract:

Energy and physical integration constitute the core of the economic agenda of the so called "post-liberal" regionalism in South America. Both areas of integration are encompassed in the program of ALBA and UNASUR, responding to a demand which is coming from the public as well as the private sectors of South American societies. On the one hand, the lack of infrastructure has been perceived as an obstacle for increasing economic (trade and productive) integration among South American countries. On the other hand, South America is well known not only to be a region well endowed with energy resources, but also to be extremely asymmetrical regarding the distribution of such resources. During the first decade of the 21th century, there have been both: integration initiatives and institution building processes, such as the Initiative for the Integration of South American Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA), the South America Energy Council (COSEAS) and more recently the UNASUR Councils of Planning (COSIPLAN ) and Energy. In spite of the socio-political demand for deeper integration and the supply of regional institutions, the agenda has had few advances. In this paper, I explore the political economy of both areas shedding light on the interaction between domestic and international factors which explain the limits of energy and physical integration in the region.

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