Régimen político y política exterior en Argentina. El caso del primer gobierno de Carlos Menem (1989–1995)

Abstract

This article deals with the relation between political regime and conception of foreign policy in Argentina during the first presidency of Carlos Menem (1989–1995). Without denying the influence of factors originating within the international system, the importance of internal factors is stressed for the way in which nations structure their behavior in the international arena. The article refers to previous work in the field, and makes use of an analytic model which facilitates differentiation of the principal dimensions of a political regime and its foreign policy; an examination of the basic evidence points to locating the selected case within a typology of change of the variables considered. Finally, conclusions are drawn regarding the consolidation of democracy in Argentina and the democratization of Argentine foreign policy during this period, as well as the implications of this for the challenges of foreign policy at the moment.