Colombia Internacional (Sep 2015)
Cooperación dependiente asociada. Relaciones estratégicas asimétricas entre Colombia y Estados Unidos
Abstract
The “exportation” of security has become a core component of Colombia’s foreign policy. Although the cooperation provided for third parties is a result of the country’s strategy to increase its own regional and international visibility, much of it is the result of triangulation with the United States. The main objective of the article is to critically question this new model of bilateral interaction in light of the conceptual literature on asymmetrical international relations, which gravitates around the degrees of dependency, submission, penetration, reciprocity and autonomy that exist between states with marked power differentials. We argue that in situations characterized by asymmetry, a more autonomous form of behavior on the part of the weak country does not necessarily clash with being dependent on the strong one. However, the article concludes that the “associated dependent cooperation” that exists between Colombia and the United States, although it seems to configure a more strategic and less subordinate bilateral relationship, is not free of contradictions.
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