1 Global Discourse • vol XX • no XX • 1–20 • © Authors 2024 Online ISSN 2043-7897 • https://doi.org/10.1332/20437897Y2024D000000043 Accepted for publication 31 October 2024 • First published online 29 November 2024 RESEARCH ARTICLE The disruptive effect of Western supremacist civilizationism: why Southern Cone reactionary governments confront regionalism Bernabé Malacalza, b.malacalza@conicet.gov.ar National University of Quilmes and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina Gisela Pereyra Doval, gpdoval@gmail.com National University of Rosario and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina This article argues that Southern Cone reactionary governments often tend to confront international and regional institutions. Evidence of this approach is found in the administrations of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (2019–22) and Javier Milei in Argentina (2023–), exhibiting various forms of confrontation. The analysis highlights two primary explanations: first, the distinct nature of reactionary governments based in a world view rooted in a Western supremacist civilizationism (WSC) vision; and, second, the driving of their foreign policies by ‘culture wars’ and a new kind of alignment with the US named ‘performative emulation’. By focusing on how beliefs rooted in WSC influence foreign policy, the article illustrates how these reactionary governments are altering the regional political landscape with ‘culture wars’ becoming civilizational regionalism (Geistregionalismus). Methodologically, this article examines these two case studies to glean broader theoretical understandings from the experiences of reactionary governments in the Southern Cone, their foreign policies and their relationship with regionalism. Keywords Western supremacist civilizationism • Southern Cone reactionary governments • regionalism Key messages • Reactionary governments defend Western Supremacist Civilizationism (WSC), defining identity through historical civilizations and portraying threats to Christian Western civilization as both internal (modern cosmopolitanism, the liberal international order) and external (China’s rise and influence in multilateral institutions). • They act as zealous promoters of US values, adopting policies with exceptional enthusiasm, often exceeding alliance requirements. This ‘performative emulation’ reflects not just imitation but actively enacting dominant state ideals as their own. Authenticated gpdoval@gmail.com/ Author's copy | Downloaded 11/30/24 11:56 AM UTC