Argentina and South Africa in the Construction of International Governance Alternatives

FEDERICO MERKE

Argentina and South Africa. Strengthening the Bilateral

Institute for Global Dialogue

Lugar: Pretoria; Año: 2009; p. 35 - 52

This is an exploratory study into Argentina’s and South Africa’s international projection and points of agreement and disagreement in the relationship at both global and regional level. It is not an analysis of the bilateral relationship per se (to be discussed at sessions 1 and 2 of the seminar) but looks rather at how Argentina and South Africa might cooperate on different geographic levels and in thematic areas. This paper’s analytical focus is on the political, diplomatic and security sectors, and only analyses economic and commercial issues in passing. As such, it does not offer definitive conclusions but rather a group of alternatives for action to be discussed at the seminar. The study is organized around three levels of analysis. The first level analyses the international positions adopted by Argentina and South Africa since the return to democracy and the end of apartheid. The second level analyses Argentina’s and South Africa’s role regarding global governance in general and South-South cooperation in particular. The third level analyses Argentina’s and South Africa’s role in the governance of their respective regions. The text ends with a number of conclusions.