Abstract

BARCELO, Nastasia. What is Flexibility For? Uruguayan Foreign Policy towards Mercosur (2015 - 2022). Desafíos [online]. 2023, vol.35, n.2, pp.1-29.  Epub Oct 11, 2023. ISSN 0124-4035.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/desafios/a.12034.

In dialogue with the constructivist approach to International Relations, I conduct a comparative analysis of the Uruguayan government’s proposals for the flexibilization of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) between 2015 and 2022. This periodization, which covers two administrations - the second government of Tabaré Vázquez (Frente Amplio, 2015-2020) and the first two years of the government of Luis Lacalle Pou (pn, 20220-2022) -, was adopted seeking to delve deeper into the rationale put forward by both administrations in favor of flexibilization. The paper aims to understand to what extent the content of each demand differs in their respective historical contexts, in order to study whether or not there was a shift in the projection of Uruguayan foreign policy towards the bloc. I show that the demand for flexibilization has been a constant in Uruguayan foreign policy for at least two decades-the only thing that has varied is the way in which these demands have been outlined in their specific context.

Keywords : Uruguay; Foreign Policy; Mercosur; flexibilization.

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