Symbolic Commitments and Ideological Alignments

Honduras’s Foreign Policy and Legitimacy in the International Society

Abstract

Since 2022, the government of Xiomara Castro has sought to reposition Honduras on the international stage with a discourse centered on the defense of democracy, human rights, and regional integration. However, its foreign policy has exhibited significant contradictions between normative discourse and concrete actions, especially regarding its rapprochement with authoritarian regimes such as those of Venezuela and Cuba, and its erratic behavior in multilateral forums. This paper analyzes this policy from the perspective of the English School of International Relations, which understands states not only as power actors but as members of an international society governed by shared norms. Based on this theory, it is argued that Honduras, despite its peripheral status, possesses international agency. However, its symbolic, ideological, and inconsistent use of norms has undermined its external legitimacy. The central hypothesis maintains that this strategic incoherence not only damages its international credibility but also limits its ability to build alliances, access multilateral cooperation, and exercise influence. In conclusion, the study suggests that peripheral states must avoid the instrumental use of norms if they wish to successfully integrate into the international order, since legitimacy is based not only on discourse but also on sustained coherence in practice.