Richard E. Feinberg

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, right, talks with Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro at the 52nd OAS General Assembly in Lima, Peru, Thursday, October 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo).

Latin America was ahead of its time with the trend to create smaller, more targeted partnerships. Indeed, the region is a graveyard of failed minilateral institutions. After all, the region’s tanker—the historic Organization of American States—has long had to compete with sub regional upstarts, including in recent years the now defunct Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Today, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) has legs, as the preferred platform for the EU and China to engage with Latin America and the Caribbean. Richard Feinberg examines the long and creative history of alliance diplomacy.