Introduction Studying Public Goods in Latin America and China
Deng Haochen,Nicole Jenne[1]
Thirty years after the end of the Cold War transformed the bipolar structure of the international system,it is widely accepted that the Western order,the so-called “liberal order”, is in crisis.This book examines how global governance is changing as a result of the multifaceted transitions associated with the decline of the liberal world order.How are international power configurations mutating as a result of the decline of US power and what does this mean for the provision of international public goods? Who are the actors providing international public goods in policy areas such as financial stability,security,environment,human rights and health amongst others? What sort of institutional and legal structures are used to manage the provision of public goods? How is global governance being affected by the crisis of liberal democracy? The chapters in this book respond to these questions from different disciplinary backgrounds,including culture,international relations,finance and management,by looking at a variety of policy areas from Chinese,Latin American and Sino-Latin American perspectives.
The first chapter on “North-South Relations and the Semantics of Latin American Modernity” contributed by Jochen Kleinschmidt builds on insights from philosophy.The question of modernity is posed simultaneously by people from different regions.China is mentioned in this article precisely because such a non-Western power is establishing and consolidating its relations with Latin America,thus weakening the long-standing domination of the United States as a unique and Western superpower for a long time.Kleinschmidt focuses his discussion on the intellectual heritage of three distinct traditions that have converged in what we know as mestizaje(hybridization).It is this hybrid character that has shaped the Latin American mind since the modern period.The readers are invited to take into account these dimensions when it comes to analyzing the modernity that has unfolded in Latin America in the past two centuries.
The second chapter is written by Liu Yongtao on “People-to-People Exchange and Global Public Goods”,a term that is widely used nowadays.Transactions limited to economic and trade exchange are not enough for the Chinese and Latin Americans to share a global vision.It is in awareness of this default that Liu Yongtao orients the reader to a much enriched horizon where it would be possible to forge ties between peoples in order to constitute public goods.In his contribution,Liu Yongtao uses the illustrative example of a public library to explain what constitutes a public good:“Once it is created,anyone can use it (non-excludable) and one reader's use of the library does not use it up.It is still available for other readers (non-rivalrous)”.
The third chapter on “Latin America and the Caribbean as a New Partner in International Development Cooperation for China”,co-authored by Juana García Duque and Juan Pablo Casadiego Guevara,echoes the fourth one as both are on Sino-Latin American relations.Duque and Guevara place their analysis into the domain of international development cooperation by focusing on the Ibero-American Bilateral South-South Cooperation.The article provides proposals about the future cooperation between China,Latin America and the Caribbean,highlights what is not negligible,and may serve as an appropriate reminder for all who are concerned with global governance.
The fourth chapter entitled “A New Phase in Sino-Latin American Cooperation:Implications of The Belt and Road Initiative Projects for the Way Ahead” by Juliana González Jáuregui deals with the Sino-Latin American cooperation in general terms.For Jáuregui,the inclusion of Latin America described as a “natural extension” of the Maritime Silk Road can largely explain why many countries such as Panama,Uruguay and Ecuador joined The Belt and Road Initiative,despite the fact that some countries have remained outside this framework.
The fifth chapter,co-authored by Nicole Jenne and Christian Wirth,entitled “Neither In Nor Out:Regionalism and the Ambivalent US Role in the Struggle for a New East Asian International Order”,discusses the role of the United States within East Asia's regional order.The authors argue that the hub-and-spokes system,whereby East Asian spokes converge on the US hub,has failed to adapt to post-Cold War realities in order to meet the necessities of East Asian countries including China.Washington's effort to sustain this order nonetheless has exaggerated tensions within the region.The authors suggest that multilateral fora including the US serve the regional states’ interests best,and should therefore be supported by East Asian countries and the declining US hegemon alike.
In the sixth chapter on “Global Public Goods and Symbolic Inequality:Dilemmas in Financing GPG with International Aid”,Marta Ochman explains that the theory of public goods had originated in the 1950s in order to legitimize state intervention into markets to provide welfare benefits for national populations.In contrast to the national realm,however,authority is much more diffused in the international system.Big states and wealthier nations are expected to contribute a greater share to the provision of public goods,but if they do so,at what cost? Since the end of the bipolar world structure,the distribution of international responsibilities has become more complex.New powers have been on the rise,like China.To what extent are these powers able and willing to step in and provide public goods,and in what form? It is a pertinent time the authors of this book begin to provide some answers to the question of how the changing international configurations influence global governance.
The seventh chapter on “Corruption and the Provision of Public Goods”,written by Richard Kalil and Andrés Zambrano,deals with the provision of public goods by examining the effects of corruption in the case of Colombia.Deviating from a macro level analysis,the reader finds a detailed analysis at the micro level that highlights the importance of strong institutions.
The contributions to this volume were previously presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Fudan-Latin America University Consortium (FLAUC) in Lima,Peru,and at the FLAUC academic roundtable at the 2019 Shanghai Forum.FLAUC is a platform for exchange,communication and cooperation between Fudan University and 12 of Latin America's most prestigious universities from 6 countries.The Consortium reflects a qualitatively different phase in Sino-Latin American relations characterized by the attempt on both sides to broaden relations and “get to know each other”.We need to bear in mind that prior to the 2000s,official exchanges between the People's Republic of China and Latin American governments were mostly sporadic.Even after the establishment of formal relations from the late 19th century on,Sino-Latin American exchanges had largely been limited to non-state actors.However,within less than a decade,China's economic growth,coupled with its “Going Global” policy,turned it from being perceived as a far-away country into Latin America's second most important trading partner.In 2017,Latin America was announced as a “natural extension of The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” in Beijing's The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation,and in 2018,The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) reached Latin America,five years after it had first been declared by China's President Xi Jinping.However,in order for Latin America's inclusion into the BRI to produce results that benefit the peoples on both sides,this process of cooperation needs to be inclusive of a wide range of actors.As universities of FLAUC,we hope to contribute to this new phase with a continuous and open academic dialogue such as it is reflected in this book.
[1] Dr.Deng Haochen is assistant professor of the School of International Relations & Public Affairs of Fudan University,China.Dr.Nicole Jenne is assistant professor of the Institute of Political Science and researcher of the Center for Asian Studies (CEAUC) of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.