Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0017/00172.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 32KB | 506 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00172}
$Pretitle{273}
$Title{Argentina
Chapter 4F.   Foreign Relations}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Craig H. Robinson}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{states
united
argentina
countries
country
islands
britain
relations
military
treaty}
$Date{1987}
$Log{Ronald Reagan*0017201.scf
Buenos Aires*0017202.scf
}
Country:     Argentina
Book:        Argentina, A Country Study
Author:      Craig H. Robinson
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1987

Chapter 4F.   Foreign Relations

     Foreign policy was the responsibility of the president, who was advised
by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Worship. Under civilian presidents,
foreign policy was generally made by the president, his or her close personal
advisers, the career staff of the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Worship,
and the armed forces. Some of the leaders of the major business associations,
intellectuals, executives of the major foreign investors in the country,
foreign military advisers, and representatives of foreign and international
aid agencies often participated in the process. The circle of participants was
narrower under military presidents, the armed forces typically playing a
greater role than the career foreign service.

History and General Principles

     Historically, the country was most concerned with sovereignty,
security, international recognition, and economic development in its foreign
relations. Argentina's close economic relationship with Britain from
independence until World War I led many to consider the country a
Spanish-speaking appendage of the British Empire. The British built the
railroads and utilities, introduced modern breeding techniques to the cattle
industry, and ran the international trading system. The ruling elites
represented those who supplied the beef, wool, and grains to the British
companies. Thus, the country supported British investors and British interests
in the region, eschewing identification with the rest of Latin America. The
British influence, together with the large number of European immigrants,
led to a general orientation toward Europe and a relative detachment from
Western Hemispheric affairs, aside from border tensions with Chile and a
traditional rivalry with Brazil.

     When the United States began to advance its economic and diplomatic
sphere southward by means of the Pan American Union in 1889, Argentina
turned its attention to the rest of South America, albeit in a limited way.
It opposed United States attempts to forge hemispheric solidarity, arguing
that although Central America and the Caribbean fell within the United States
sphere of influence, South America should maintain its autonomy. Pursuing
this policy, the country successfully blocked an attempt by the United
States to create a hemispheric peacekeeping mechanism at the 1933 Montevideo
Conference of the Pan American Union. At the same time, however, investors
from the United States had successfully established a strong position in
the country's economy during World War I.

     With the rise of nationalism in the late 1930s, the country was
divided in its foreign policy emphases. Conservative governments emphasized
the country's traditional ties to Britain, while the military governments of
the early 1940s sought to limit British influence and advocated closer ties
with Germany. During World War II the country maintained its neutrality,
shipping beef and grain to Britain while encouraging German investments in
industry. The United States opposed this position and pressured the country
to declare war on Germany by giving substantial military assistance to Brazil.
In 1945, with the results of the war clear, the country declared war on
Germany and Japan "in order to achieve acceptance in an Allied World."

     During World War II the country joined the Inter-American System
after signing the Act of Chapultepec in April 1945. It joined the Organization
of American States (OAS) in 1948, signed the Inter-American Treaty of
Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty), and participated in the Inter-American
Defense Board. At the same time, however, the country developed the concept
of a so-called Third Position in international affairs, independent of the
rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The policy led to
closer ties with Latin America, the maintenance of a more distant, and at
times hostile, attitude toward the United States, and the development of
cooperative relations with other countries in Asia and Africa. This policy,
with varying degrees of emphasis, was continued throughout the 1950s and
1960s. At the same time, however, the country continued to emphasize its
traditional cultural, political, and economic links with Western Europe.

     Under the military governments of the late 1960s and the 1970s, the
country tried to project its power on a broader scale than before. Those
governments, tending to view the international system in terms of a basic
conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, sought to ally the
country more closely with the United States and at the same time establish
regional hegemony in the Southern Cone and in the South Atlantic area.
Difficult relations with the United States during the late 1970s impeded the
pursuit of this project, but after their improvement in 1980, the country
participated in a military coup in Bolivia, sent military advisers to assist
the government of El Salvador and antigovernment guerrillas operating against
the government of Nicaragua, entered into informal discussions with the United
States concerning the possible location of a United States military base in
Argentina, and sought the formation of a South Atlantic Treaty Organization to
join Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa in a military alliance with the
United States. At the same time, however, the country developed a strong
commercial relationship with the Soviet Union.

     The South Atlantic War of 1982 seriously disrupted the country's foreign
relations, effectively ending its traditional ties with Britain but also
calling into question its relationship with the United States and its
participation in the Inter-American System. To many Argentines, the role
played by the United States in the war made it impossible to rely on the Rio
Treaty as the primary mechanism for external defense. This also contributed
to a growing climate of opinion that the country's interests would be better
served by aligning itself with the developing countries, particularly on
economic issues.

     The foreign policy of the Alfonsin government reflected these concerns.
It sought to forge stronger ties with the Nonaligned Movement and tried to
negotiate a common policy on international debt payments with the other
countries of Latin America. In addition, it ended the country's military
involvement in Central America and distanced itself from United States policy
in the area. It also tried to improve its relations with several West European
countries, notably with Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and maintained its
commercial relations with the Soviet Union. Finally, it sought to resolve the
long-standing territorial dispute with Chile over the Beagle Channel and to
resolve peacefully the country's dispute with Britain over the islands of the
South Atlantic.

Relations with Britain

     In mid-1985 the fundamental issue between the country and Britain
remained the status of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands as well as the other
islands in the South Atlantic (South Georgia/Georgia del Sur Island, South
Sandwich/Sandwich del Sur Islands, South Orkney/Orcadas del Sur Islands, and
South Shetland/Shetland del Sur Islands). Argentina considered these islands
to be part of the country, together with a large portion of Antarctica. The
Antarctic claim came under the provisions of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty (see
Relations with Other Countries, this ch.). The British occupation of the
Falkland/Malvinas Islands, however, was viewed as a case of colonial
occupation.

     The Argentine