Defense Cooperation: The South American Experience

Abstract

One of the main challenges for theories of international relations and trade policy is the 'security dilemma'. International security and national defense are central issues in the area of international relations; they have always been variables related to the anarchic nature of the international system, associated with the prevalence of distrust in the relationship among states. For this reason, the classic academic debate between the neorealists’ and the neo-institutionalists’ contrasting views has basically revolved around the quest to overcome instability, while looking for alternatives that could create space for cooperation, precisely to avoid any return to Hobbesian anarchy.