Political and economic perspectives on diversification in Philippine-South America relations

Abstract

Diversification is a foreign policy goal aimed at widening the space for maneuvering in a regional and international environment in which less-developed and small countries are subject to the vulnerabilities attached to asymmetric relations. South America and the Philippines belong to the developing world and face common development and international integration challenges. In this chapter, we aim to understand the contemporary relations between South America and the Philippines, in the context of the rapprochement to East Asia as a main driving force in all South American countries’ foreign policies searching for a more diversified international integration. The focus of the chapter will be on the central economic and political partners of the Philippines in South America: Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, from a developmental perspective on foreign policy from 2008 to date.