International Forces Shaping Latin American Higher Education Governance

Abstract

It is difficult to find a resolution for current global problems without the participation of an international organization. Three recent examples are the organized responses to the economic crisis by agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in close alliance with the G-8 or G-20 in 2008; the international actions coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat the influenza A (H1N1) virus pandemic crisis in 2009; and the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference—the COP16 Conference— organized in Cancun, Mexico. These three cases show the punctual intervention of international organizations in the discussion and resolution of global problems. These organizations “make authoritative decisions that reach every corner of the globe and affect areas as public as governmental spending and as private as reproductive rights” (Barnett and Finnemore 1999, 3).

The author would like to thank Nicte-Ha Dzib Soto for her assistance in reviewing the journal Global Governance. A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations and Scarlett Zamudio for their help in reviewing the data on public expenditure per pupil in primary and tertiary education in Latin America.