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China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
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54 China theEUandLatinAmerica:CurrentIssuesandFutureCooperation foreignpolicyorofanybilateral biregionalormultilateralrelationship.The problemliesinthefactthattheinternationalsystemisinfluxor ifImaysay so inan alteredstate inwhichnothingthatweknewbeforeseemstohold trueanylonger atleastnotwithoutconsiderablemodification. However thereareatleastsomefactsthatwecanbesureof: Chinahasbecomea major worldpower notonlybecauseofits outstanding economic growth in recent years but also because ofthe attractivenessofitsdevelopmentmodel. Europehaslostpartofitssoftpowerduetoenlargementandthe constitutionaldebacle.IthascertainlylostitsascendancyoverLatinAmerica givenitsinabilitytoactonissuesofparticularconcernintheregion its obstinateadherencetosocalledsharedprinciplesandvaluesanditsadhoc solutionswhenpushcomestoshove asseeninthelatestchangeofpositionvis vis the pending agreements with the Andean Community members. Furthermore despitebeingthemostsuccessfulintegrationschemeintheworld thecurrenteconomiccrisisiscertainlyputtingallEUinstitutionsunderstrain evenitscoreprincipleofsolidarity asshownbythediscussionssurroundingthe Greekdebacle. Latin Americahasbecomemorediverseandismovingfartherand fartherawayfromaunifiedpositionorvoiceoninternationalaffairs despitethe recentattemptstocreateaLatinAmericancommunity.Atthesametime ithas resumedapreexistingroleasaproducerofraw materials whichhasgivenita temporaryandsomewhatartificialrelevanceintodays world includingits apparentresilience during the current economic crisis.Nonetheless the challengesfacingtheregionarestillmanyanddiverse. AnyreflectiononrelationsbetweentheEU LatinAmericaandChina cannotexcludethe elephantintheroom namelytheUnitedStates.Despiteits apparentlossofsteamanditsdifficultiesduringthecurrentcrisis theUSAis stillaworldpowerthatwillinfluencetheformationofanytypeofnew world order.Therefore perhapsitwouldbebettertotalknotofatrianglebutofa rhomboidthatincludestheUSA. Theworldisbecomingmultipolar.However thismeansnotonlythat powerwillbedistributedmoreevenlyamongstates butalsothatotheractors mustbeconsideredintheequation.Inthatsense whateverpredictionsaremade now it willbenecessarytotakeintoconsiderationthefactorofpower fragmentationand redistribution among differentactors including states marketsandother morediffuseplayers suchasratingagencies whichhave demonstratedtheircapacitytomakeorbreakstates.