The disruptive effect of Western supremacist civilizationism: why Southern Cone reactionary governments confront regionalism

Abstract

This article argues that Southern Cone reactionary governments often tend to confront international and regional institutions. Evidence of this approach is found in the administrations of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (2019–22) and Javier Milei in Argentina (2023–), exhibiting various forms of confrontation. The analysis highlights two primary explanations: first, the distinct nature of reactionary governments based in a world view rooted in a Western supremacist civilizationism (WSC) vision; and, second, the driving of their foreign policies by ‘culture wars’ and a new kind of alignment with the US named ‘performative emulation’. By focusing on how beliefs rooted in WSC influence foreign policy, the article illustrates how these reactionary governments are altering the regional political landscape with ‘culture wars’ becoming civilizational regionalism (Geistregionalismus). Methodologically, this article examines these two case studies to glean broader theoretical understandings from the experiences of reactionary governments in the Southern Cone, their foreign policies and their relationship with regionalism.