The return of “north american hegemony” and impacts on Latin America

Abstract

This text intends to analyze the relationship between hegemony and crisis taking the United States in the post-World War II as an example. The rationale behind this study is to understand the importance of the U.S. in the international system as well as its att empt to maintain itself at the “top” of contemporary international relations. Aft er all, the U.S. ascension to “World Power” in the post-war period was seen as an economic stabilizer. Nevertheless, with the economic and political crisis occurred in the 1970s in the United States, its role as super power was not only contested, but also att ested the very failure of the international fi nancial system conceived at Brett on Woods. Thus, this paper aims at demonstrating such situation as well as presenting the new policies adopted by the Americans to fi ght off  that situation, in order to recover its position as a hegemon. In addition, at the end, the study emphasizes the eff ects generated by this new practice on Latin American economies, particularly on Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, considering they have impacted negatively the economy of these countries. Hence, this text is divided into four parts so as to draw a theoretical and qualitative approach on the subject, reviewing the existing literature on the matt er, not intending, yet, to exhaust all the existing sources.