Organization of American States: Moving the americas forward? Analysis of successes and failures of the OAS in human rights, democracy and conflict resolution

Abstract

The Organization of American States (herein after OAS) is one of the most important regional organizations nowadays. However, it has been the target of much criticism all over the continent and a number of “rival” organizations such as UNASUR and CELAC have born in the last decade. Before analyzing whether or not the OAS has been a successful organization, it is necessary to understand its history and functioning, and thus the first part of this paper focuses on the history, raison d’être, admission policies, structure and decision-making processes. Since the mandate of the OAS is too broad, and it works in a variety of areas including development, security, international law, as well as a multiplicity of social, economic, political and cultural issues, for the purpose of this paper the analysis of successes and failures will be narrowed to human rights, democracy and conflict resolution, which are –on our view– the core of the organization’s work.