Published in Open Democracy

The central geopolitical issue for all Southern Cone countries is the singular relevance of the South Atlantic, because of increasing global demand for strategic natural resources during the last decade and the resurgence of South Atlantic routes as an important means of international communications and trade. The preoccupation that the South Atlantic might therefore become a zone of power projection by extra-regional international actors is shared not only by all Southern Cone countries but also by their African counterparts. The new government in Argentina is considering two opposing approaches to meeting the future challenges of South Atlantic geopolitics. One focuses on keeping foreign powers out of the South Atlantic and strengthening the zone of peace promoted by the UN. An alternative is a new approach to transatlantic trade and security along the lines recently promoted by EU and U.S. think tanks with the concept of “new Atlantic futures”. Given the clear preference of the new Argentine government for reviving North-South relations, a certain openness can be detected in Buenos Aires towards developing the latter concept of widening the transatlantic community to include African and South American partners.

Read Full Article: http://www.cries.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Geopolitical-issues-in-the-Southern-Cone.pdf