The study addresses the question of whether or not the EU’s foreign policy towards Latin American Southern Cone States (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which created, in 1991, the Southern Cone Common Market – MERCOSUR) has become more cooperative since the mid-to-end 1980s, and why a change, if any, has occurred. It explores recurrent explanatory factors pointed out in the literature (EU’s intention to balance the US hegemony, accession of Portugal and Spain to the EU, and the processes of democratization, economic liberalization, and regional integration taking place in the Southern Cone States) in two case studies, foreign direct investment and agricultural trade. The conceptual framework includes hypotheses derived from three theoretical approaches in the discipline of International Relations: Neorealism, Utilitarian Liberalism, and Identity-Constructivism.weiterlesen