“In Whose Backyard? Latin America in the Era of Great Power Rivalry,” paper presented at the 15th World Academy of Political Economy Forum via Zoom, Shanghai International Studies University

This paper critically explores the ‘pressure points’ and ‘choke points’ of US-China relations, with a focus on the political economy of their great power rivalry and its dynamics in the 21st century in the Latin American context, China’s penetration into the region since the early 2000s, and Washington’s response.
Within Latin America, a consistent pattern of Chinese investment and construction has emerged. Since the ‘Pink Tide’ of the late 1990s and 2000s, Latin American leaders have welcomed outsiders into the region, to secure economic development and aid from a rising power that gives them a choice. What does this spell for the continuity of the US empire as we know it? What does the rivalry between the traditional hegemonic power in the Americas (the US), and a rising global power (China) mean for Latin America?
The paper argues that a new form of inter-imperial rivalry is brewing, one that is shaping geopolitics, trade and security arrangements, and conflicts in what could be described as a ‘transitional’ process of 21st century imperialism for control and influence.