Analyses Of The Dilemma Of UNASUR In Promoting Regional Security Cooperation ——Based On Combating Transnational Organized Crime

Latin America faces prominent non-traditional security problems.Drug trafficking,human trafficking,money laundering and arms smuggling threaten regional stability.In recent decades,criminal organizations in Latin America have rapidly become transnational and drug trafficking is rampant.Combating transnational organized crime has become one of the key issues of governments.In view of the difficulty and complexity of combating transnational crime,countries are urged to seek multilateral cooperation,among which the regional organization of the Union of South American States Nations（UNASUR）has played an important role.Shortly after the establishment of South American Council on Public Security,Justice and Coordination of Actions against Transnational Organized Crime（CSSCJDOT）was established.The Council tried to cooperate in security area,but security cooperation finally stalled and did not play its expected role.Based on this background,the question to be studied in this paper is why UNASUR Council is in trouble in the regional cooperation in combating transnational organized crime,and since the UNASUR member states have the realistic demand for cooperation in combating transnational organized crime,what are the causes of the current dilemma?Combined with the theory of international cooperation,this paper focuses on the cooperation mechanism,difficulties and causes of Council’s fight against transnational organized crime.This study mainly adopts the methods of case analysis and historical analysis,and takes the fight against transnational organized crime as a case to explore the difficulties and causes of UNASUR in promoting regional security cooperation.It mainly refers to the documents and reports of UNASUR and its Council.The study found that UNASUR has many institutions’ participation but lack of coordination in the mechanism.It is difficult for member states to reach consensus on specific cooperation projects.At the same time,it also lacks strong leadership.The core argument of this paper is that the cooperative dilemma of UNASUR in combating transnational organized crime is caused by the following reasons:first,at the institutional level,the decision-making of CSSCJDOT is lack of binding force;the member states follow the traditional concept of sovereignty,adopt the mode of intergovernmental cooperation,and are unwilling to transfer power,which makes it difficult to translate the results of dialogue into effective policies;Lack of strong implementing entities to take the action plan.Second,at the cultural level,UNASUR has lost the important basis for cooperation,the ideological convergence of all countries at the beginning of its establishment.The ideological differences among member states have led to the deadlock of regional security cooperation.Third,at the power level,Brazil,which once led the establishment of UNASUR,has weakened its willingness to promote regional security cooperation and leadership due to the impact of the domestic political and economic crisis.In addition,after the change of political power in Brazil,the attitude towards UNASUR’s cooperation has changed significantly,and the commitment to leadership in the region has faded,resulting in the lack of core leadership in security cooperation.Fourth,at the level of national capacity,the member states are facing the defects of insufficient national capacity,which are embodied in the sluggish national economy,the prevalence of corruption,the lack of social management and control capacity,etc.Although UNASUR has not made substantial progress in regional security cooperation,it is an attempt by South American countries to independently explore and solve regional security problems without the intervention of the United States,which is of progressive significance.Latin American regional organizations are currently in a tight position,but it will be the general trend to cooperate at the regional level to combat transnational organized crime.Based on the above analysis,this paper believes that the perfect security cooperation mechanism,ideological convergence,the willingness and ability of regional powers to promote cooperation and the ability level of national stability can all be the factors to promote regional security cooperation in Latin America.