Leaving the Backyard: Latin America’s European Option MARIO E. CARRANZA »If the EU can construct a true partnership with the Latin American countries, it will establish solid credentials for its role as a global civilian power. This has strategic importance for Latin America, too, for it also seeks a multilateral order built on principles of diplomacy, economic cooperation, and noninter­vention.« 1 T he purpose of this article is to examine the trilateral relationship be­tween Latin America, the European Union( eu ), and the United States in light of the us attempt to establish itself unchallenged as the dominant state in the international system. Can the European Union and Latin America establish a strategic partnership as an effective counterweight to the expanding power of the United States? The conventional wisdom is that a strategic partnership between the eu and Latin America is unlikely because the eu is still reluctant to intrude in the United States’ traditional sphere of influence and Europe’s richest countries will tend to focus on their new partners in Eastern Europe rather than on Latin America. 2 However, after the Iraq war the European Union and Latin America have strong incentives to establish a strategic partnership to balance the ten­dency toward a us -centered unipolar world. A bi-regional association with the European Union would allow the Latin American states to assert their independence from the»colossus of the North« while gaining access to a key external market. For the eu , it would provide privileged access to Latin American markets, while reinforcing its self-image as a develop­ment-oriented, rather than security-fixated»civilian power«. 1. Christian Freres,»The European Union as a Global ›Civilian Power‹: Development Cooperation in eu -Latin American Relations«, Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 42(2)(summer 2000), pp. 78–79. 2. See, for example, Andres Oppenheimer,» eu ’s Expansion May Hurt Latin Amer­ica«, The Monitor (McAllen), February 3, 2004. 54 Carranza, Latin America’s European Option ipg 2/2004