The article focuses on the economic bases and asks if these create a demand for regional and global outreach of foreign policy. With an integrative perspective, when one thinks of states one also thinks of the states and markets dyad. What are the inside interests that drive the new outlook? If the debate on region building is to go beyond a narrative construction we need to make greater room for the incentives that drive actors, especially those that are becoming increasingly integrated in global exchanges. In other words it is not only the size of the country that matters but the intensity and content of integration in the regional and world economy that matters at the time of region building. The article advances in four sections. I first review what political economy can (or should) contribute to the debate on power and leadership in a hemisphere in flux. In the following section, I discuss how some indicators are applicable to Brazilian interests as a rising power. Subsequently I analyze the internationalization of Brazilian business in the region and finally I discuss what these trends might mean in terms of region building.
South America; Regional Integration; International Political Economy; Brazil