Multipolarity Under Construction: New Paths and Difficult Balances in the Argentina–Middle East Relation During the Kirchner Governments

Abstract

The chapter analyzes the Argentinean foreign policy concerning the Middle East during the Kirchner governments (2003–2013). In doing so, it works on four fundamental subjects: the Argentinean stance toward the Arab uprisings; the intensification and diversification of the commercial policy, basically regarding the countries composing the Gulf Cooperation Council; its foreign policy in relation to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; and, linked to the latter, its policy toward Iran. In historical perspective, the Kirchner’s foreign policy concerning the Middle East presents a mix of traditional and new features. These are derived from both the governments’ particular reading of world’s and Argentina’s social, political and economic reality and the configuration of global power relations tending toward multipolarity.