Dissertation Defense of
Mauricio Fajardo
"An Analysis of the United States Hegemony in Latin America considering the current incursion of China in the region"
Monday, March 2, 2026
10 am - 11:30 am Eastern
BAL 7009
Zoom: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98403335069
ABSTRACT
The recent incursion of China in Latin America suggests that the traditional hegemony of the United States could be declining. The purpose of this research is to assess the degree in which the American hegemonic position in this region of the Western Hemisphere has diminished and what implications this likely phenomenon could eventually bring. Several dimensions of the notion of Hegemony are evaluated such as economic, military, cultural, political, and technological. The concepts of hard power and soft power are considered in order to evaluate the external influences over Latin America. The features of the IR school known as Neorealism, are utilized in order to evaluate and interpret the findings. The methodological procedures employ statistical correlation analysis for the quantitative variables and process tracing for the qualitative ones, with the aim to arrive at the acceptance or rejection of a Null and an Alternative Hypothesis. In addition, two case studies observing Colombia and Venezuela are developed.
Committee Members
Dr. Georg Menz, Chairperson
Dr. Regina Karp
Dr. Francis Adams
Dr. Jonathan Hiskey