Trends in South American weapons purchases at the beginning of the new millennium

In recent years, with some frequency it is heard that Latin America, especially South America, is witnessing the rise of an arms race. Frequent reports in the press and strong statements made by politicians in the region have fueled this fear. At the same time, scholars have also reached to this conclusion, as pointed out by Malamud and Garcia: "The famous arms race in Latin America, led by Venezuela, is no longer just talk."

Reflexões sobre o Brasil e os desafios Pan-Amazônicos

O objetivo deste artigo é o estudo das interações regionais e desafios internacionais sobre a Pan-Amazônia, uma região considerada estratégica para o Brasil. Sua importância se verifica em múltiplos campos, com destaque para o ambiental e para o econômico - aliás, duas perspectivas que, mesmo não sendo excludentes, revelam-se de difícil compatibilização, sobretudo quando o assunto converge para a exploração dos diversos recursos naturais existentes na Pan-Amazônia e para o exercício da soberania nacional sobre os seus territórios. Mas o escopo temático do artigo é ainda mais amplo, haja vista que um dos principais objetivos do estudo é tentar articular as questões ambientais e econômicas conexas à Pan-Amazônia com aspectos políticos relacionados à segurança regional e nacional em torno da hileia, partindo do pressuposto que estamos diante de um quadro complexo apreendido em sua dimensão regional. Por fim, realiza-se um exercício sobre prováveis cenários envolvendo a Pan-Amazônia, tanto na perspectiva regional como na internacional.

Towards modular regionalism: the proliferation of Latin American cooperation

This article addresses three questions: why there was a surge in regional cooperation projects in Latin America in the last decade; how to characterize the current multi-faceted scenario; and how to make this complexity work. After a review of six theoretical perspectives, an original conceptual approach is proposed: "modular regionalism." This credibly answers the three questions and offers policy recommendations.

Contemporary issues in the government and administration of Latin American megacities

This paper is the first to systematically analyze and compare the structures of city governance and administration for seven major cities in Latin America, four of which are megacities (population of over 10 million), and three others are large national capitals. U.S. and U. K. models of city administration are reviewed as baseline models against which differences in Latin American may be explored. Structures of Government in Latin America show several important features and trends: 1) the lack of metropolitan (cross jurisdictional) authority; 2) the existence of strong mayors and weak councils"; 3) high levels of partisanship; 4) overlapping rather than interlocking bureaucracies; 5) pressures towards the privatization of city services, but continuing tension over the desirability of public versus private control; 6) greater fiscal responsibility and autonomy; and 7), a continuing marginalization of public participation in megacity governance.In spite of these features, many cities throughout the region (regardless of whether they are megacity size or national capitals), are actively intensifying their efforts to develop more effective, accountable and democratic governance structures.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN AND SPANISH CRUISE PASSENGERS' BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS

ABSTRACT Earlier studies of cross-national differences in consumer behavior in different consumption sectors have verified that cultural differences have a strong influence on consumers. Despite the importance of cross-national analysis, no studies in the literature examine the moderating effects of nationality on the construction of behavioral intentions and their antecedents among cruise line passengers. This study investigates the moderating effects of nationality on the relationships between perceived value, satisfaction, trust and behavioral intentions among Spanish and (U.S.) American passengers of cruise lines that use Barcelona as home port and port-of-call. A theoretical model was tested with a total of 968 surveys. Structural equation models (SEMs) were used, by means of a multigroup analysis. Results of this study indicated that Spaniards showed stronger relationships between trust and behavioral intentions, and between emotional value and satisfaction. Americans presented stronger relationships between service quality and satisfaction, and between service quality and behavioral intentions.