[Access article in PDF] Book Review
Foreign Policy Theory in Menem's Argentina
International and Comparative
Foreign Policy Theory in Menem's Argentina. By Carlos Escudé. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997. Notes. Index. ix, 166 pp. Cloth, $49.95. In his first English-language book, Carlos Escudé seeks to accomplish two grand tasks. First, he aims to demonstrate that mainstream Anglo-American theories of international relations are essentially flawed and that the uncritical adoption of these theories in developing countries has translated into foreign policies that have negatively affected their citizens' welfare. Second, building on a "citizen-centric" critique of those theories, [End Page 220] Escudé attempts to develop an alternative theory, attuned to the reality of "peripheral" countries, which takes into account both the weakness and the vulnerability of these countries in the international arena. This model, which he calls "peripheral realism," is based on the premise that "the principal function of a peripheral state's foreign policy is to facilitate [economic] development" (p. 133). Argentina's foreign policy under the Menem administration (1989-), Escudé argues, is a notable illustration of such a foreign policy philosophy.
This is an ambitious, intriguing project, mainly because of Escudé's emphasis on the ethnocentric character of conventional international relations theory, which makes its extrapolation to developing countries highly problematic. The resulting book, however, is disappointing. The highlights of Escudé's criticism of realism and other theories are not novel and the author's uneven analytic rigor often conspires against his claims. Most importantly, in my view, Escudé fails to deliver what he promises: a sound theoretical model of foreign policy relevant to the experience of peripheral countries and empirically supported by the case of Argentina. This does not mean that his ideas are not thought-provoking. The problem is that he consistently misses the opportunity to elaborate on them--for instance, when he discusses the notion of autonomy (chap. 5) and asserts that peripheral realism helps us to understand that confrontation does not define autonomy in international affairs and that the direction of causality tends to go from development to autonomy (and not the other way around, as many students of Latin America have argued). Had the author developed these ideas, his overall argument would have been significantly strengthened.
The evidential basis of Escudé's theoretical analysis is rather limited. He refers to a number of foreign policy events under the Menem administration--for example, the decision to abandon the Non-Aligned Movement, the deactivation of the Cóndor II missile project, and the reestablishment of relations with Great Britain--but he does not discuss them in any detail. In addition, he fails to develop a complete picture of Argentina's relations with the United States in the 1990s, and his study does not incorporate a recent case that seems highly relevant for his theoretical framework: Argentina's dissension with the United States over patent policy for pharmaceuticals.
Finally, this book does not succeed in explaining why Menem's foreign policy serves the interests of the Argentine people. Escudé stresses that Argentina's "calculated acquiescence to the political needs of the United States and other Western powers" (p. 134) has reshaped the country's international image, making it more appealing to foreign investment. However, he does not explain how Argentina's adherence to the so-called Washington consensus has advanced the population's welfare. His claim that economic policies are "intrinsically domestic, not foreign" (p. 21) is difficult to support, given the impact of the global process of market-oriented reform on peripheral countries such as Argentina.
Ariel C. Armony
Colby College
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Foreign Policy Theory in Menem's Argentina (review)
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