Argentina Politics, Economics and Security

6 hrs. academic credit
- 3 hrs. CRMJ 465 credit (CRMJ majors, counts for Cluster A; other majors, counts for general elective; other academic credit possible upon request)
- 3 hrs. SPAN 300 level credit for independent study

Spanish is not required.

To secure spot:
Pay $500 deposit to secure spot: pay to fund #130015 at Treasurer’s office in Bond Hall.

Description:
Argentina today is a 43-million person country and is important within the 580-million person Latin American region. The country is a democracy, with an economy based primarily in commodity exports.

Historically, Argentina is younger than the ‘old’ colonial centers of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru, and as such has only a 350-year pedigree dating back to colonial times. Argentina lacked major indigenous populations such as the Aztecs and Incas, and further received heavy Southern European immigration in the late 19th century to complement the Iberian foundation of its population. This unique origin has given Argentina a distinctive set of institutions and political culture within the Western Hemisphere.

Politically, Argentina was one of the first modern democracies in the Western hemisphere and was the only Latin American country to be considered among the First Wave of global democratic expansion in the early 19th century. Argentinian politics succumbed to populism and military rule in the mid-20th century, and the country suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Britain in the Falklands/Malvinas war of 1982. Today, Argentina has substituted left-wing populism of Nestor and Kristina Kirchner (2003-15) with yet-to-be-determined politics of the right-of-center businessman Mauricio Macri.

Economically, Argentina was an affluent country in the Western Hemisphere at the dawn of the 20th century, but has since fallen into economic disarray, periodically suffering high levels of inflation and still dependent on commodity exports. Argentina was responsible for possibly the largest modern sovereign debt default in 2001. Today, Argentina has been keenly interested in the rise of China as a consumer of its commodities. Unlike Mexico and Brazil, which have complex manufacturing sectors that compete with China, Argentina saw China’s rise as an unalloyed good, and its slowdown in negative terms.

Criminal justice and security challenges in Argentina are different from other countries in the region. Argentina does not suffer from an armed insurgency such as the FARC in Colombia, nor does it suffer from drug cartels, as in the case of Mexico. Most of Argentinian criminal justice reform has centered on political battles over oscillating centralization and decentralization in, for instance, the Buenos Aires preventative police forces under various governors from 1997 to the early 2000s.

We lack deep knowledge of Argentina in the US. The country is the furthest south of the Latin American republics, and it literally and metaphorically faces Europe. Unlike Mexico, about which we know a lot, Argentina is something of a cypher for Americans, and therefor offers a frontier of sorts for adventurous students and faculty.

Structure of the tour
Principal organizer is Dr. Brian Norris of the department of criminal justice at the Citadel. The tour is an interview-based format and does not require Spanish language, though this ability would be a plus for participants. Interviews would number 2 to 4 per day, for a total of 20 to 25 for the entire tour. Most interviews would take place in Buenos Aires, a city of 15 million, the weeks July 9-23, 2017. Topics would vary based on interviewee expertise. It is impossible to know beforehand the composition of the interviewee docket, but program organizer has been successful in the past procuring quality interviews, including the charge de affairs of the US embassy in Mexico; editor of the international section of a major Mexican newspaper; and leaders in academia and government in Mexico. Major institutions will be visited, including the congress, the national executive (La Casa Rosada, the Pink House), the Supreme Court, key bureaucratic institutions, such as the Argentinian national census bureau, and major universities. Strong contacts in business (see below) will facilitate interviews with business analysts and tours of productive operations. Security contacts will be harder to come by, but RESDAL (Security and Defense Network of Latin America) is located in Buenos Aires.

There will be a service learning component and brief homestay the weekend of June 17 organized by CIEE, and CIEE will provide emergency services in Buenos Aires.

Themes

There are three themes to the Argentina study tour:
1. Politics, including major national representative and bureaucratic institutions
2. Business, perhaps showcasing the soybean industry
3. Criminal justice and security, with a focus on preventative policing

The rationale for the broad ranging subject-matter comes from a comparativist intellectual tradition. Businessmen might believe their challenges are unique dealing with the Argentinian government and business sector, but in fact criminal justice reformers face similar challenges. Obviously, there are sector-specific characteristics.

Logistics
The group will either stage in Charleston or rendezvous in Buenos Aires. Students will complete online reading assignments and tests throughout the month of July in a hybrid course format. Student and faculty accommodations will be in the Hotel Tucuman, an acceptable hotel for student travel. Accompanying World Affairs Council members would stay close by. Transportation in Buenos Aires will be accomplished primarily by public transportation. CIEE will be a liaison for emergency support services.

Illustrative Agenda*

Destination / Activity
1 Casa Rosada (Executive Mansion) / guided tour
2 Congress (House and Senate) / guided tour
3 Supreme Court / guided tour
4 University of Buenos Aires, Business School / interview experts, various themes
5 University Torcuato Di Tella / interview experts, various themes
6 Latin American Security and Defense Network (defense think tank) / interview experts, various themes
7 Argentina Census Bureau / interview personnel
8 US Embassy / interview personnel
9 interview journalists
10 interview commodity trader: Buenos Aires during Falklands War / interview
11 interview Bolivian migrant / interview
12 Dr. Norris presentation - tribal origins of Bolivian migrants / presentation
13 Group dinner with Soy industry expert
14 Tour business TBD
15 National Historic Museum / tour
16 Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires / tour
17 Theatre Dr. Fernandez / commentary
18 Nation Fine Arts Museum / tour
19 Volunteer activity, Rosario / donate time at an orphanage
20 National Military Academy (Colegio Militar de la Nacion) / interviews and tour
21 Theme: preventative police / interview police leaders
22 Theme: human rights activist / interview
23 Theme: Police Training Academy (Esc. De cadetes Policia Comisario) / tour and interviews
24 National Geographic Institute (Military maps) / tour and interviews
25 and more!

*final agenda will vary based on availability