Latin American Secretaries-General of International Organizations: A Typical Case of “Diplomacy of Prestige” or Just Another Side Effect of Growing Cosmopolitanism?

The article discusses the hypothesis of there being a “diplomacy of prestige” in Latin America, i.e., if states from the region have consistently used formal leadership positions at international organizations as a means to pursue national interests. A second hypothesis posits that Latin American secretaries-general (SGs) are rather a collateral effect of transnational cosmopolitanism than a deliberate prestige-seeking strategy. This research comprises two stages: an assessment on data about eighty-six Latin American SGs from 1948 to 2015, condensing their personal and professional trajectories, and a prosopographical approach to ten case studies as way of observing their relationship with the respective countries of origin.