BOLIVIAN INTEGRATION IN THE REGIONAL CONTEXT OF THE 21ST CENTURY. POLITICIZATION, PRAGMATISM, AND STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

In a context of political changes and democratic crisis, this article shows the uniqueness of Bolivia in the context of regional international relations. The text presents a case study on regional integration from the perspective of relatively less developed countries in Latin America and, particularly, among those that have moved from the liberal model to the socialism of the XXI century. In this scheme of political transformations, product of the changes in political paradigms, the text hypothesizes that Bolivia's foreign relations so far in the 21st century have experienced a permanent ontological debate between politicization and pragmatism in international affairs, particularly in recent years. Therefore, based on a review of Bolivia's actions in the context of role theory as seen through the different regional integration processes in which Bolivia has participated, it is postulated that, in the incipient context of the development of these integration mechanisms, the steps taken by Bolivia are signs of stagnation and a change of allies.