Will Javier Milei Upend Argentina’s Foreign Policy?

Friday, January 26th 2024 - 15:11 UTC

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By Thiago de Aragao (*) Mere weeks after taking office, Argentine President Javier Milei has already picked fights with the United Kingdom and China, demonstrating his “anarcho-capitalist” approach to foreign policy. The complex reality of international diplomacy and economic interdependence requires a far more pragmatic stance. Read full article

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Milei brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “a bull in a china shop”. But the matter is interesting from two angles. First, it is a tangible example of the steps that China is taking to procure diplomatic support around the world. Of course a country is going to support anything China wants to do when China has that country by the short and curlies through a currency swap agreement. But the Chinese are learning that when a country is truly bankrupt, all creditors are the same. Either Argentina will find a way of continuing its existence without assistance from the Chinese, or Milei will have the humiliating experience of having to climb down. Either way the world is watching and hopefully those being romanced by the Chinese will in future look those Chinese gifts horses very carefully in the mouth.
The second angle concerns Argentina itself. Economic necessity is a hard taskmaster. It is also an effective one. Politicians will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid taking hard decisions, and if you want your people really to understand economic necessity you have to put all alternatives firmly out of reach. Milei is trying to do this in part with the dollarization of the economy - if you can't just print more money to pay your bills, you are indeed coming face to face with necessity. Taking action to torpedo the Chinese swap arrangement may, intentionally or otherwise, have the same effect, bring the Argentines to understand that there is now nobody around who is prepared to save them from the consequences of their own decisions.
Jan 27th, 2024 - 04:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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