A remotely recorded podcast featuring Alexandra Huneeus (Law School Profile), Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
In this episode, Prof. Huneeus joins the pod to discuss her book, Latin American Law in the Twenty-First Century, co-edited with Alejandro Chehtman and Sergio Puig. Prof. Huneeus explains that Latin America has long been an active architect of legal doctrine, not a passive recipient. She traces this influence through concrete examples, from the origins of diplomatic asylum to the region’s foundational role in articulating strong doctrines of sovereignty and non-intervention, doctrines born from early fears of international encroachment.
Prof. Huneeus the refocuses on the present, arguing Latin America offers a uniquely revealing vantage point on a world order in flux. As China displaces the United States as South America’s leading trading partner, and as the second Trump administration adopts a more interventionist stance toward the region, including strikes in the Caribbean and the intervention in Venezuela, the post-World War II, rules-based international legal order that Latin American nations helped build is being tested like never before. Huneeus’s insights offer listeners a fresh framework for understanding not just Latin America’s legal history, but the shifting geopolitics reshaping international law today.
The interview was conducted on May 21, 2026 | 38:37 minutes; published July 1, 2026. Transcript file (PDF).
Links to the Podcast: Soundcloud | Apple Podcast | Spotify