Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the foreign policies of populist governments: (Latin) America First

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of International Relations and Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

How do populists conduct foreign policy? The existing literature on populism focuses mainly on domestic patterns, and until recently the foreign dimension of populism has been largely overlooked. This paper aims to fill theoretical and empirical lacunae by mapping patterns of change and continuity in the formulation of geopolitical and economic international policy among Latin-American populist governments. Striving to conduct a systematic comparative analysis, this paper explores three waves of populist foreign policies in Latin America (classic, neoliberal, and progressive). While it is difficult to highlight a unified phenomenon, the findings reveal that several ‘unifying’ elements indeed exist: they are manifest in the tendency of such governments to jointly (re)construct transnational solidarities for legitimation purposes and to adopt economic foreign policies with a pragmatic bent. Moreover, in opposition to the two first waves of populist governments, the most recent wave has embraced personalist styles, emotional public diplomacy, and clientelist techniques with support networks abroad, thus actively projecting the domestic patterns of populism to the regional and global levels in an attempt to leverage both domestic and international legitimacy. This study offers critical lessons for IR scholarship’s increasing engagement with populism, contributing to the lively debate regarding the rise of populist trends across the globe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albertazzi, Daniele and Duncan McDonnell (2015) Populists in power, Abingdon: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Amorim-Neto, Octavio and Andrés Malamud (2015) ‘What Determines Foreign Policy in Latin America? Systemic Versus Domestic Factors in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, 1946–2008’, Latin American Politics and Society 57(4): 1–27.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Axelrod, Robert (1967) ‘The Structure of Public Opinion on Policy Ossues’, Public Opinion Quarterly 31(1): 51–60.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr, Robert R. (2009) ‘Populists, Outsiders and Anti-Establishment Politics’, Party Politics 15(1): 29–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernal-Meza, Raúl (2002) ‘Política Exterior Argentina: De Menem a De la Rua’ [‘Argentine Foreign Policy: From Menem to De la Rúa’], Em Perspectiva 16(1): 74–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Börzel, Tanja A. and Michael Zürn (2020) ‘Contestations of the Liberal Script. A Research Program’, Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, Cluster of Excellence Contestations of the Liberal Script, SCRIPTS Working Paper Series, No. 1.

  • Bonilla-Saus, Javier and Pedro Isern-Munne, eds (2014) Plebe versus ciudadanía: a propósito del populismo contemporáneo [Plebs versus citizenship: remarks on contemporary populism], Buenos Aires: Biblos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, Jean-Christophe and Cameron G. Thies (2019) ‘“I Am a Tariff Man”: The Power of Populist Foreign Policy Rhetoric under President Trump’, Journal of Politics 81(2): 712–22.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, James P., ed. (1998) Peronism and Argentina, Lanham, MD: Rowman-Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canovan, Margaret (1981) Populism, Massachusetts: Houghton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capriles, Colette (2006) ‘La enciclopedia del chavismo o hacia una teología del populismo’ [‘The encyclopedia of Chavismo or towards a theology of populism’], Revista Venezolana de Ciencia Política 29(1): 73–92.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartrite, Britt and Dan Miodownik (2016) ‘Determinants of Regional Political Distinctiveness’, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 22(2): 119–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chryssogelos, Angelos (2018) ‘State transformation and populism: From the internationalized to the neo-sovereign state?’, Politics 40(1): 22–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chryssogelos, Angelos (2017) ‘Populism in foreign policy’, in: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, 17 July, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.467.

  • Conniff, Michael L., ed. (1999) Populism in Latin America, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conniff, Michael L., ed. (1982) Latin American Populism in Comparative Perspective, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corrales, Javier (2009) ‘Using Social Power to Balance Soft Power: Venezuela’s Foreign Policy’, Washington Quarterly 32(4): 97–114.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De la Torre, Carlos, ed. (2018) Routledge Handbook of Global Populism, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • De la Torre, Carlos (2013) ‘In the Name of the People: Democratization, Popular Organizations, and Populism in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador’, European Review of Latin America Studies 95(1): 27–48.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • De la Torre, Carlos (2010) Populist Seduction in Latin America, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De la Torre, Carlos (2007) ‘The Resurgence of Radical Populism in Latin America’, Constellations 14(3): 384–97.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Cleen, Benjamin, Benjamin Moffitt, Pannos Panayotu, and Yannis Stavrakakis (2020) ‘The Potentials and Difficulties of Transnational Populism: The Case of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25)’, Political Studies 68(1): 146–166.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Destradi, Sandra and Johannes Plagemann (2019) ‘Populism and International Relations: (Un)predictability, personalisation, and the reinforcement of existing trends in world politics’, Review of International Studies 45(5): 711‒30.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Tella, Torcuato (1998) ‘The Transformations of Peronism’, in James Brennan, ed., Peronism and Argentina, 203–22, Lanham, MD: Rowman-Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodson, Michael and Manochehr Dorraj (2008) ‘Populism and Foreign Policy in Venezuela and Iran’, Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy & International Relations 9(1): 71–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, Paul W. (1982) ‘Conclusion: Requiem for Populism?’, in Michael L. Conniff, ed., Latin American Populism in Comparative Perspective, 217–46, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drezner, Daniel W. (2017) ‘The Angry Populist as Foreign Policy Leader: Real Change or Just Hot Air’, Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 41(1): 23–44.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellner, Steven (2012) ‘The Distinguishing Features of Latin America’s New Left in Power: The Chávez, Morales, and Correa Governments’, Latin American Perspectives 39(1): 96–114.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellner, Steven (2004) ‘Hugo Chávez y Alberto Fujimori: Análisis comparativo de dos variantes de populismo’ [‘Hugo Chávez and Alberto Fujimori: A comparative analysis of two variants of populism’], Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales 10(1): 13–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escudé, Carlos (1995) El realismo de los Estados débiles [The realism of weak states], Buenos Aires: Grupo Editor Latinoamericano.

  • Fearon, James D. (1998) ‘Domestic politics, foreign policy, and theories of international relations’, Annual Review of Political Science 1(1): 289–313.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filc, Dani (2015) ‘Latin American inclusive and European exclusionary populism: colonialism as an explanation’, Journal of Political Ideologies 20(3): 263–83.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardini, Gianluca and Peter Lambert (2011) Latin American Foreign Policies: Between Ideology and Pragmatism, New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • George, Alexander and Andrew Bennett (2005) Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giacalone, Rita (2012) ‘Latin American Foreign Policy Analysis: External Influences and Internal Circumstances’, Foreign Policy Analysis 8(4): 335–54.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hadiz, Vedi R. and Angelos Chryssogelos (2017) ‘Populism in World Politics: A Comparative Cross-Regional Perspective’, International Political Science Review 38(4): 399–411.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haftel, Yoram Z., Daniel F. Wajner and Dan Eran (2021) ‘The Short and Long (er) of It: The Effect of Hard Times on Regional Institutionalization’, International Studies Quarterly (forthcoming).‏

  • Hawkins, Kirk A. (2010) Venezuela’s Chavismo and Populism in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, Kirk A. (2009) ‘Is Chávez Populist? Measuring Populist Discourse in Comparative Perspective’, Comparative Political Studies 42(8): 1040–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, Kirk A. (2003) ‘Populism in Venezuela: The Rise of Chavismo’, Third World Quarterly 24(6): 1137–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, Kirk A., Ryan E. Carlin, Levente Littvay and Cristóbal Rovira-Kaltwasser, eds (2018) The Ideational Approach to Populism: Concept, Theory, and Analysis, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellinger, Daniel (2006) ‘Tercermundismo and Chavismo’, Stockholm Review of Latin American Studies 1(1): 4–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holsti, Ole and James Rosenau (1996) ‘Liberals, Populists, Libertarians, and conservatives: The Link between Domestic and International affairs’, International Political Science Review 17(1): 29–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, Thomas (1975) ‘Liberals, Populists, and Foreign Policy’, Foreign Policy 20(1): 98–137.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, Ronald F. and Pippa Norris (2016) ‘Trump, Brexit, and the rise of populism: Economic have-nots and cultural backlash.’. HKS Working Paper RWP16-026, 29 July, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2818659 (last accessed on 13 August, 2020)‏.

  • John, Ronald B. (2011) ‘Ideology and Pragmatism in the Foreign Policy of Peru’, in Gianluca Gardini and Peter Lambert, eds, Latin American Foreign Policies: Between Ideology and Pragmatism, 119–37, New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kaarbo, Juliet (2015) ‘A foreign policy analysis perspective on the domestic politics turn in IR theory’, International Studies Review 17(2): 189–216.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kacowicz, Arie M. (1999) ‘Regionalization, globalization, and nationalism: Convergent, divergent, or overlapping?’, Alternatives 24(4): 527–56.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kedar, Claudia (2012) The international monetary fund and Latin America: the argentine puzzle in context, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.‏

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, Jonathan W. (2005) ‘Leadership style, regime type, and foreign policy crisis behavior: A contingent monadic peace?’, International Studies Quarterly 49(2): 205–31.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, Alan (1998) ‘Populism and Neo-Populism in Latin America, Especially Mexico’, Journal of Latin American Studies 30(2): 223–48.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, Ron (2020) ‘Pluralism, Populism, and the Impossibility of Grand Strategy’, in Thierry Balzacq and Ron Krebs, The Oxford Handbook of Grand Strategy, forthcoming, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laclau, Ernesto (2006) ‘La deriva populista y la centroizquierda latinoamericana’, Nueva Sociedad 205(1): 56–62.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Laclau, Ernesto (2005) On Populist Reason, New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laclau, Ernesto (1987) ‘Populismo y transformación del imaginario político en América Latina’ [‘Populism and transformation of the political imaginary in Latin America’], Boletín de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe 42(1): 25–38.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitsky, Steven and James Loxton (2013) ‘Populism and Competitive Authoritarianism in the Andes’, Democratization 20(1): 107–36.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, Christina S., ed. (2016) Europe for the Europeans: The Foreign and Security Policy of the Populist Radical Right, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Löfflmann, Georg (2019) ‘America First and the Populist Impact on US Foreign Policy’, Survival 61(6): 115–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackinnon, María and Mario Petrone, eds (1998) Populismo y neopopulismo en América Latina: el problema de la cenicienta [Populism and neopopulism in Latin America: The Cinderella Problem], Buenos Aires: Eudeba.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mace, Gordon (2020) ‘Dynamics of Legitimation in Regional Organisations: The OAS and Non State Actors’, Global Society 34(4): 507–27.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madrid, Raúl L. (2008) ‘The Rise of Ethnopopulism in Latin America’, World Politics 60(3): 475–508.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malamud, Andrés (2011) ‘Argentine foreign Policy under the Kirchners: Ideological, Pragmatic, or Simply Peronist?’, in Gianluca Gardini and Peter Lambert, eds, Latin American Foreign Policies: Between Ideology and Pragmatism, 87–102, New York: Springer.‏

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Malamud, Andrés (2015) ‘Presidentialist Decision-making in Latin American Foreign Policy’, in Jorge I. Domínguez and Ana Covarrubias, Routledge Handbook of Latin America in the world, 112–24, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merke, Federico, Diego Reynoso and Luis Schenoni (2020) ‘Foreign Policy Change in Latin America: Exploring a Middle Range Concept’, Latin American Research Review (n.d.).‏

  • Maxwell‏, Cameron A. and Philip Mauceri (1997) The Peruvian Labyrinth: Polity, Society, Economy, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, Walter R. (2011) ‘The Tea Party and American Foreign Policy: What populism Means for Globalism’, Foreign Affairs 90(2): 28–40.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, Walter R. (1999) ‘The Jacksonian Tradition: And American Foreign Policy’, National Interest 58(1): 5–29.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, Benjamin (2016) The Global Rise of Populism: Performance, Political Style, and Representation, Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mora,‏ Frank O. and Jeanne A. K. Hey (2003) Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Policy, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mudde, Cas (2007) Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mudde, Cas and Cristóbal Rovira-Kaltwasser (2017) Populism: A Very Short Introduction, New York: Oxford University Press.‏

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mudde, Cas and Cristóbal Rovira-Kaltwasser (2012) Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, Jan-Werner (2017) What is populism?, London: Penguin.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neil, Shannon K. (2016) ‘Latin America’s Populist Hangover: What to Do When the People’s Party Ends’, Foreign Affairs 95(1): 31–38.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxhorn, Phillip (1998) ‘The social foundations of Latin America’s recurrent populism: Problems of popular sector class formation and collective action’, Journal of Historical Sociology 11(2): 212–46.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panizza, Francisco, ed. (2005) Populism and the Mirror of Democracy, New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panizza, Francisco and Romina Miorelli (2009) ‘Populism and Democracy in Latin America’, Ethics & International Affairs 23(1): 39–46.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, Nicola (2003) ‘Hemispheric Integration and Subregionalism in the Americas’, International Affairs 79(2): 327–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plagemann, Johannes and Sandra Destradi (2018) ‘Populism and Foreign Policy: The Case of India’, Foreign Policy Analysis 15(2): 283–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Press-Barnathan, Galia, Ruth Fine and Arie M. Kacowicz, eds (2018) The Relevance of Regions in a Globalized World: Bridging the Social Sciences-Humanities Gap, New York: Routledge.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Riggirozzi, Pía and Diana Tussie, eds (2012) The Rise of Post-Hegemonic Regionalism: The Case of Latin America, Verlag: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Risse, Thomas (1991) ‘Public opinion, domestic structure, and foreign policy in liberal democracies’, World Politics 43(4): 479–512.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, Kenneth M. (2014) ‘Populism, Political Mobilizations, and Crises of Political Representation’, in Carlos De la Torre, ed. The promise and perils of populism: Global perspectives, 140–58, Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, Kenneth M. (2006) ‘Populism, Political Conflict, and Grassroots Organization in Latin America’, Comparative Politics 38(2): 127–48.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, Kenneth M. (2003) ‘Social Correlates of Party System Demise and Populist Resurgence in Venezuela’, Latin American Politics and Society 45(3): 35–57.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, Kenneth M. (1995) ‘Neoliberalism and the Transformation of Populism in Latin America: The Peruvian case’, World Politics 48(1): 82–116.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roniger, Luis (2013) ‘Modern Populism in Latin America’, Oxford Bibliographies, 23 August, available at http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766581/obo-9780199766581-0130.xml (last accessed on 13 August, 2020)‏.

  • Rooduijn, Matthijs (2014) ‘The nucleus of populism: In search of the lowest common denominator’, Government and Opposition 49(4): 573–99.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rovira-Kaltwasser, Cristóbal (2014) ‘Latin American Populism: Some Conceptual and Normative Lessons’, Constellations 21(4): 494–504.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, Roberto (1994) Los ejes estructurantes de la política exterior argentina [The structuring axes of Argentine foreign policy], Buenos Aires: FLACSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, Roberto and Juan G. Tokatlián (2006) ‘Will Foreign Allies Help? Argentina’s Relations with Brazil and the United States’, in Edward Epstein‏ and David Pion-Berlin, eds, Broken promises? The Argentine Crisis and Argentine Democracy, 245–69, Plymouth: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sabogal, Julio (2009) La cultura organizacional y la política exterior de los 90 [The organizational culture and foreign policy of the 90s], Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sagarzazu, Iñaqui and Cameron G. Thies (2019) ‘The Foreign Policy Rhetoric of Populism: Chávez, Oil and Anti-Imperialism’, Political Science Quarterly 72(1):205–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saguier, Marcelo (2007) ‘The Hemispheric Social Alliance and the Free Trade Area of the Americas process’, Globalizations 4(2): 251–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligson, Mitchell A. (2007) ‘The Rise of Populism and the Left in Latin America’, Journal of Democracy 18(3): 81–95.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Semo, Ilan (1998) ‘El cardenismo revisado: la tercera vía y otras utopías inciertas’ [‘Cardenismo revised: the third way and other uncertain utopias’], in María Mackinnon and Mario Petrone, eds, Populismo y neopopulismo en América Latina: el problema de la cenicienta, 231–57, Buenos Aires: Eudeba.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skidmore, Thomas (1998) ‘Una nueva era de Vargas, 1951–1954’ [‘A new era for Vargas, 1951–1954’], in María Mackinnon and Mario Petrone, eds, Populismo y neopopulismo en América Latina: el problema de la cenicienta, 79–134, Buenos Aires: Eudeba.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skonieczny, Amy (2001) ‘Constructing NAFTA: Myth, Representation, and the Discursive Construction of US Foreign Policy’, International Studies Quarterly 45(3): 433–54.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skonieczny, Amy (2018) ‘Emotions and political narratives: Populism, Trump and trade.’ Politics and Governance 6(4): 62–72.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Söderbaum, Friedrik, Kilian Spandler and Agnese Pacciardi (2020) ‘Contestations of the Liberal International Order: A Populist Script of Regional Cooperation’ (n.d.).‏

  • Stengel, Frank, David B. MacDonald and Dick Nabers, eds (2019) Populism and World Politics: Exploring Inter- and Transnational Dimensions, Cham: Palgrave-Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stavrakakis, Yannis and Giorgos Katsambekis (2014) ‘Left-wing populism in the European periphery: the case of SYRIZA’, Journal of political ideologies 19(2): 119–42.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, Ben (2008) ‘The Thin Ideology of populism’, Journal of Political Ideologies 13(1): 95–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thies, Cameron G. (2017) ‘Role Theory and Foreign Policy Analysis in Latin America’, Foreign Policy Analysis 13(3): 662–81.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Tickner, Arlene B. (2008) ‘Latin American IR and the Primacy of lo práctico’, International Studies Review 10(4): 739–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tussie, Diana (2009) ‘Latin America: Contrasting Motivations for Regional Projects’, Review of International Studies 35(S1): 169–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vázquez, Modesto (1983) Política exterior de México [Mexican foreign policy]. México: Harper & Row Latinoamericana.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Verbeek, Bertjan and Andrej Zaslove (2017) ‘Populism and Foreign Policy’, in: Cristóbal Rovira-Kaltwasser, Paul A. Taggart, Paulina O. Espejo and Pierre Ostiguy, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Populism, 384–405, Oxford: Oxford University Press.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Voeten, Erik (2020) ‘Populism and Backlashes Against International Courts’, Perspectives on Politics 18(2), 407-422.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wajner, Daniel F. (2021) ‘Populism and Legitimacy: Exploring the International Legitimation Strategies of Contemporary Populist Governments’, in: Nina Wiesehomeier, Kirk Hawkins, and Angelos Chryssogelos, eds, The Ideational Approach to Populism: Consequences and Mitigation, forthcoming.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wajner, Daniel F. (2019a) ‘“Battling for Legitimacy”: Analyzing Performative Contests in the Gaza Flotilla Paradigmatic Case’, International Studies Quarterly 63(4): 1035–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wajner, Daniel F. (2019b) ‘Making (Latin) America Great Again: Lessons from Populist Foreign Policies in the Americas’, in Frank Stengel, David B. MacDonald and Dick Nabers, Populism and World Politics: Exploring Inter- and Transnational Dimensions, 195–225, Cham: Palgrave-Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wajner, Daniel F. (2016) ‘La inminente era del neoprogresismo en Latinoamérica’ [‘The imminent era of neo-progressivism in Latin America’], Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica, 28 January, available at http://revistafal.com/la-inminente-era-del-neoprogresismo-en-latinoamerica/ (last accessed on 14 September, 2020).

  • Wajner, Daniel F. and Arie M. Kacowicz (2018) ‘The Quest for Regional Legitimation: Analyzing the Arab League’s legitimizing role in the Arab spring’, Regional and Federal Studies 28(3): 489–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wajner, Daniel F. and Luis Roniger (2019) ‘Transnational Identity Politics in the Americas: Chavismo’s Regional Legitimation Strategies’, Latin American Research Review 54(2): 458–75.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wehner, Leslie (2020) ‘The narration of roles in foreign policy analysis’, Journal of International Relations and Development 23(2): 359–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wehner, Leslie and Cameron G. Thies (2021) ‘The Nexus of Populism and Foreign Policy: The Case of Latin America’, International Relations, forthcoming.

  • Weyland, Kurt (2013) ‘The Threat from the Populist Left’, Journal of Democracy 24(3): 18–32.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weyland, Kurt (2009) ‘The Rise of Latin America’s Two Lefts: Insights from Rentier State Theory’, Comparative Politics 41(2): 145–64.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weyland, Kurt (2001) ‘Clarifying a Contested Concept: Populism in the Study of Latin American Politics’, Comparative Politics 34(1): 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weyland, Kurt (1999) ‘Populism in the Age of Neoliberalism’, in Michael L. Conniff, ed., Populism in Latin America, 172–90, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiesehomeier, Nina, Kirk Hawkins and Angelos Chryssogelos (2021) The Ideational Approach to Populism: Consequences and Mitigation, forthcoming.

  • Wojczewski, Thorsten (2020) ‘Populism, Hindu nationalism, and foreign policy in India: the politics of representing “the people”’, International Studies Review 22(3): 396‒422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zakaria, Fareed (1997) ‘The Rise of Illiberal Democracy’, Foreign Affairs 76(6): 22–43.‏

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zúquete, Jose Pedro (2017) ‘Populism and religion’, in Cristóbal Rovira-Kaltwasser, Paul A. Taggart, Paulina O. Espejo and Pierre Ostiguy, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Populism, 445–66, Oxford: Oxford University Press.‏

    Google Scholar 

  • Žižek, Slavoj (2006) ‘Against the Populist Temptation’, Critical Inquiry 32(3): 551–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

For helpful comments on earlier versions of this article, I am grateful to Arie Kacowicz, Luis Roniger, Angelos Chryssogelos, Sandra Destradi, Cameron Thies, Leslie Wehner, Piki Ish-Shalom, Charles Kupchan, Tanja Börzel, Galia Press-Barnathan, Thomas Risse, Yoram Haftel, Javier Bonilla, Exequiel Lacowsky, and other workshop participants at the 2017 Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, the 2017 Rabin Conference, the 2018 European Workshops in International Studies, and the 2018 Joint International PhD Workshop on ‘Contestations of the Liberal Script’. Thanks are also due to three anonymous reviewers and the editors of this journal, as well as the Leonard Davis Institute at the Hebrew University and the Cluster of Excellence ‘Contestations of the Liberal Script’ (EXC-2055, Project-ID-390715649) for their generous funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Relations, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, 91905, Israel

    Daniel F. Wajner

Authors
  1. Daniel F. Wajner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel F. Wajner.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wajner, D.F. Exploring the foreign policies of populist governments: (Latin) America First. J Int Relat Dev 24, 651–680 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-020-00206-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-020-00206-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation