Over the last few decades we have witnessed an emerging interest in security topics and mechanisms to analyse these. In the context of globalization, characterized by a wide and fast spread of thoughts and the necessity of being part of a globalized world, new threats have appeared (not only interstate, but mainly, intra- and trans-state), as well as theoretical approaches (such as Critical Security Studies, CSS) to deal with them.

Regarding the South American case it is useful to consider the constitution of the Unasur as a forum to coordinate politics with a very relevant geostrategic and security influence. In this paper, I deal with the logics that motivated the birth of the Unasur project, in order to examine the way this mechanism acts against different types of security threats and regional crises. Meanwhile, I test these empirical evidences with the common characteristics proposed by Peoples and Vaughan-Williams for the CSS.

I conclude that some aspects have been incorporated to the way Unasur addresses regional conflicts (security as a derivate concept and a broader security agenda), while an important element remains the same: a state-centric perspective.