This academic paper provides an analysis of the regional concerns and challenges presented in the Declaration of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as a result of the IX Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) held in Bolivia in 2010. It focuses on the importance of cooperation in defense and security matters in the region, specifically in the advancement of the implementation of measures of confidence promotion and security recently approved by the South American Defense Council (SDC) of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
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As Chinese trade and investment with Latin America expand, the People's Republic of China (PRC) is accumulating interests in the region. Whatever Chinese intentions toward Latin America may be, the dilemma of when and how to defend these interests is likely to occupy a significant part of the PRC agenda in the region in the coming decades, and to affect China's relationship with the United States as well. This article identifies six emerging Chinese interests in Latin America, and discusses why, and how the PRC may struggle to defend them. These interests are: (1) Access to markets and the fight against protectionism, (2) Protection of investments and contracts, (3) Repayment of loans, (4) Protection of resource flows, (5) Protection of Chinese nationals and operations in the region, and the (6) Isolation of Taiwan.
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The next three decades will witness the most important geopolitical change of the last few centuries: the rise of Asian power and the restructuring of the system of international relations. This paper aims to show how, why and with what consequences a progressive transfer of influence and a shift of power centers towards the region is already taking place. In order to analyze this, the reasons behind the rise of the Asian group on the global scene and the structural changes brought about by its incorporation will be pointed out; the main instruments of projection towards the rest of the world will be studied and, in more detail, the strategic repercussions for the Americas of the emergence of a new system of international relations, the Eastphalian system, will be discussed.
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Two events in 2008 brought about substantial changes in the international system: the Russian invasion of Georgia and the international financial crisis, both of which highlighted the powerlessness of international institutions to deal with such events. The war in Georgia made it clear that unilateral US measures, including an American deployment in traditionally Russian zones of influence, revitalized the country's relations with the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in order to propose a regional vision on international security issues. On the other hand, the financial crisis originating in the United States has had repercussions on the world economy, causing, among other things, the volatility of international commodity prices and the retraction of investments in emerging economies. Governments are trying to apply corrective measures ad intra while seeking, externally, to create conditions to stabilize the financial situation from a cooperative perspective. In this context, American hegemony without the multilateralist complement, which means having international legitimacy, is an invitation to generate strategic counterweights. From the perspective of critical realism of geostrategic unilateralism, such as that of the Iraq war, could argue that if the world is to be governed, multilateralism is the way to go.
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Like other countries in Latin America, Venezuela received the principles of the National Security Doctrine that developed during the Cold War period. This doctrine has profound repercussions on the definition of the country's national interests and its security profile. Consequently, concepts such as territoriality, sovereignty, the internal and/or external enemy and the development of the nation have guided the policies adopted by Venezuela's military and political actors in matters of security and defense over the last fifty years. However, the presidency of Hugo Chavez Frias since 1999, has implemented the Bolivarian Revolution, which includes a re-evaluation of the traditional conception of security. It is, therefore, imperative to study and analyze the components of the new geopolitical and geo-economic vision of his political project, which includes redefining strategic objectives to respond to ongoing and new national interests, establishing new civilian-military relations, the need to create a new National Armed Forces, the goal of putting aside old doctrines that are not indigenous to the country and adopting security reforms.
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