This thesis examines the tense dynamics of trust and hatred within Latin America and looks into the involvement of the United States in its military and economic support for rightist governments in...Show moreThis thesis examines the tense dynamics of trust and hatred within Latin America and looks into the involvement of the United States in its military and economic support for rightist governments in Latin America. It starts with an analysis of the bilateral relations, the regional integration and the authoritarian state. Following is an extensive examination of the development of regional integration in Latin America, the threat of Communism and authoritarian responses to it. The authoritarian regimes threatened the social lives of millions of Latin American people and allowed a military regime to maintain the domestic economic and political structure according to the objective of the authoritarian leader and the military junta, which was centred around the eradication of Communism. Within Latin America, regional integration caused bilateral and multilateral successes and failures and conflicts. The high quantity of natural resources in several countries such as Venezuela, Brazil and Chile for example, provides the opportunity to maintain relations with other countries in the international system and to increase foreign investments. However, geographical factors limited bilateral relations in various countries in Latin America and territory remains a crucial factor in the analysis of bilateral relations within the region. The final chapter scrutinizes the bilateral relation between Chile and Argentina in the years from Pinochet’s coup d’état in 1973 until his successor Aylwin took over presidency in 1989. These 17 years are divided in two time periods. The first period goes from 1973 until 1983, a period in which military diplomacy acted out by both countries symbolized territorial conflicts, but where both countries’ governments and secret services cooperated to protect their countries against Communism in Operation Condor. The second period starts with the Peace and Friendship Treaty in 1984 in which it seemed like conflicts softened, and where the democratic transition in Argentina contributed to the lowering of the long-lasting binational security dilemma between Chile and Argentina. Hence, this thesis identifies the major factors that have been contributing to and have been restraining the bilateral relation between Chile and Argentina. The contextualization is characterized by military responses to the threat of Communism within both countries, territorial interventions in the Southern Cone of Latin America and the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1984 which fostered the incentives for bilateral integration and economic cooperation between Chile and Argentina.Show less
Regional integration is on the political agenda in all parts of the world. During the time of post-colonial development and liberation struggles, Southern Africa saw its share of attempts at closer...Show moreRegional integration is on the political agenda in all parts of the world. During the time of post-colonial development and liberation struggles, Southern Africa saw its share of attempts at closer economic and political ties between states within the region. Today, the dominant regional organization in Southern Africa is the Southern African Development Community. Many regional organizations in the developing world, including SADC, explicitly state that a large part of the regional integration project is towards a goal of attracting an increase in foreign direct investment. The ability to attract FDI is based on various factors; covering many of these is the combined level of perceived political risk. Economic and political instability, social unrest, ethnic and military conflict, corruption in government, the threat of expropriation and breaches of contract; political risk is a multi-faceted concept. The thesis identifies what types of political risks are prevalent in the Southern African region. The research focus addresses what SADC as a regional actor has contributed towards lowering the levels of political risk in specific countries and parts of the region. The thesis demonstrates that as theoretical assumptions and empirical evidence argue that regional integration is positive for the ability to attract FDI, Southern African countries face many obstacles on the way towards a fully integrated economic community. Meanwhile, the prospects for peace and security in the region are better at present than twenty years ago. The establishment and maintenance of legal, security and financial frameworks that would add to securing the interests of both the foreign investors and the host country and government are often lacking. Furthermore, the implementation of regional institutions have been hampered by various factors, including the member states’ own interests and a general unwillingness towards ceding sovereignty to transnational institutions . The role of South Africa as a regional hegemon and key policy-maker within SADC is discussed in order to further examine the regional dynamics in Southern Africa.Show less
