By analyzing issues and conflict through the lens of collective guilt, remembering the impacts of globalization and interconnectivity, it is possible to identify the factors that cause or aggravate a certain situation, and therefore create comprehensive and sustainable solutions.

Global and regional trade is based on a series of complex economic and financial relationships between countries that can offer opportunities for economic development. However, such activities depend on a delicate balance that nation-states often have trouble maintaining. This case study will look at how MERCOSUR’s future is in danger due to the economic rivalry between Argentina and Brazil. This article uses the example of MERCOSUR as it is one of the most significant attempts of regional trade and cooperation in the history of the region. When looking at the trade relationship between Brazil and Argentina mentioned in the article, similar fraught relationships that have negatively impacted cooperation agreements around the globe emerge. This piece introduces some of the complex aspects of regionalism and how often "the most powerful agents" shape the past, present, and future of cooperation relationships at the regional level.