Colombia’s biggest challenge is to resolve its half-century old armed conflict which began already to affect its neighbours. In this regard, Colombian foreign policy becomes crucial to respond with the internal and external challenges Colombia faces. Colombia has been historically aligned to the United States who has become one of the main destinations of Colombian exports as well as the leading sponsor in the fight against drugs and the guerrilla groups. However, the recent take over of President Juan Manuel Santos in August 2010 seems to have produced a shift in this regard. Santos has tried to increase Colombia’s interaction with other Latin American countries which has triggered several speculations about a move away from Washington, its main ally. Only some months have passed and it is already visible how the existent dynamics between Colombia and other international actors are taking a different shape. This work investigates the causes and possible impacts of this shift in Colombia’s foreign policy on the internal conflict. Supported by an analytical background on the significance of the external conditions surrounding a conflict, this research was conducted by favouring qualitative methods. Presidential interventions and newspaper articles were analysed by applying discourse analysis. The external perceptions were collected using structured interviews with professors, journalists, diplomats within the Andean region. The exploratory results suggest that a shift in the Colombian foreign policy indeed took place and was highly perceived by other international actors. It does not respond to a unique cause but to a set of different motives as for example the disappointment with US policies, economic pragmatism, the isolation of Colombia in South America, among others reasons. Furthermore, it is pointed out the way the shift could affect the conflict as well as feasible scenarios for the future. / Colombia ha sido históricamente uno de los aliados incondicionales de los Estados Unidos. Su políticaexterior se ha dirigido principalmente hacia este país, el cual con el tiempo se convirtió tanto en el mayorcomprador de las exportaciones colombianas, así como en el principal financiador en la lucha contra elnarcotráfico y las guerrillas. No obstante, la reciente toma de posesión del Presidente Juan Manuel Santosel pasado 7 de agosto de 2010, parece haber producido un cambio en este aspecto. El gobierno Santosha hecho un esfuerzo por incrementar las relaciones de Colombia con otros países latinoamericanos locual ha desatado diversas especulaciones sobre un eventual distanciamiento de Washington, su principalaliado. Este artículo investiga si efectivamente se ha dado un cambio en la política exterior colombiana,sus causas, y su eventual impacto en el conflicto armado. Los resultados exploratorios sugieren queefectivamente ha habido un giro en la política exterior colombiana y que tal cambio fue advertido por suspaíses vecinos y otros actores internacionales. Este giro no responde a un sólo motivo si no a múltiplescausas. Adicionalmente, este trabajo señala el impacto de tal cambio en el conflicto armado, así comoposibles escenarios para el futuro.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-18747 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | PUERTO, DIANA |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper, SV |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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