Latin America and NATO: Correlation Formats in the XX – the First Quarter of the XXI Century

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of historical and contemporary relationships between Latin America and the NATO bloc. The relevance of the study is based on the strategic focus of the Atlantic Alliance in the “global South” as a direction for diversifying its extra-regional ties. The article provides a detailed analysis of the world bibliography available by 2022 on the problems of relations between Latin America and NATO. Two main research waves are emphasized. The impetus for the first wave was given by Argentina’s intentions to move closer to NATO at the end of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the rise of the research interest was provoked by the close rapprochement of Colombia with the Alliance. The study is based on the logical-historical method, which makes it possible to consider the object both in development and in structural-logical aspects. A comparative analysis of the texts of the NATO treaties and the Inter-American Treaty on Mutual Assistance, as a Latin American source of the Atlantic Alliance treaty, has been carried out. The author proves that this relationship remains relevant at the present time. For the first time in Russian Latin American studies, the trajectory of Colombia’s rapprochement with NATO is analyzed, and the historical background of this process in the 20th century is considered. Colombia’s interaction with the alliance in the 21st century is viewed as a key element in the system of relations between the region and the alliance. Three main areas, in which Colombia performs intermediary functions, have been identified: the operational-tactical, the educational and the integration area. All of the above leads to the conclusion that in the structure of Latin America–NATO ties, there is a clear predominance of indirect ties, both in the historical plane and in the current profile of relations. The hypothesis of the study is that their array has a sufficient critical mass to cause qualitative transition towards the direct interaction formats dominance in the future.