The Changes in the International System since 2000.

Abstract

This article characterizes three moments of change in the structure of the international system but focuses on this century. It looks at opportunities created for Latin American states by the rise of China in world markets; the enhanced capacities of Latin American states vis-à-vis major powers and institutions as a consequence of the international commodity boom; the disruption of the international system caused by U.S. foreign policy at the start of the century and the subsequent balancing against U.S. power; the breakdown in the inter-American ideological consensus from the 1990s; and the intensified securitization of relations with the United States.