Argentina: Foreign Relations

Since Argentina's return to civilian rule in 1983, its foreign policy has generally emphasized active participation in multilateral institutions, support for human rights, and a stated commitment to non-intervention in the affairs of other states. Successive administrations have nonetheless diverged sharply in orientation, with some prioritizing close alignment with the United States and Western allies and others favoring deeper ties with China and other emerging powers; the government of Javier Milei, in office since 2023, has emphasized the former approach.

Regional integration has been a consistent thread in Argentine diplomacy. As one of South America's largest economies, Argentina helped found the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in 1991 alongside Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, later joined by Bolivia in 2023, and remains an active member of the Organization of American States.

Argentina's most enduring foreign policy dispute concerns sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas, which culminated in a brief war with the United Kingdom in 1982. Diplomatic relations, severed after the conflict, were restored in 1989 under an agreement that set the sovereignty question aside, though the islands remain a recurring point of friction and a matter Argentina continues to raise before international bodies such as the United Nations.