Advice for Argentina

What advice would John Mearsheimer offer the Argentine government regarding its dealing with the growing rivalry and hostility between China and the United States?

“I think that the main thing Argentina should do is to offer assurance against any military involvement with China because that would leave it trapped between the US and China,” replies the academic, criticising the military adventurism of his country and its “eternal wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Faced with this hypothetical scenario, Mearsheimer has no doubts: “The US would go to enormous lengths to force Argentina to break up its military relationship with China.”

“What Argentina should do is to make a big effort to have strong economic relations with both China and the US. Taking advantage of both those countries in the best of senses and using those relations for economic growth,” he adds.

His recipe: stay away from the military competition between the two superpowers and at the same time maximise economic interchange with both.

Meanwhile, Mearsheimer does not believe that the Chinese space station in Neuquén Province would be a possible target in the event of an armed conflict with the US.

“If there were a big Chinese naval base in Argentina, that would be the target,” the prestigious academic assured this journalist.