THE DOMESTIC DETERMINANTS OF LATIN AMERICAN ACTIVISM AND ISOLATIONISM IN THE UNITED NATIONS: BRAZIL AND MEXICO IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE.

For the first time, Latin America's two giants, Brazil and Mexico, are both under democratic regimes. But the democratization of these two countries has led them into two very different international paths in the United Nations. Brazil seeks to be a world leader in the forum, while Mexico has pursued a passive role in the organization. The paper explains why Brazil and Mexico have pursued different strategies in the UN. It uses domestic politics variables to analyze Brazil's preference for activism and Mexico's choice for relative isolationism. In particular, the paper focuses on domestic processes and institutions to explain variation in behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]