Ghosts of Alignments Past: Understanding Latin American Proposals for ‘Mediation’ in the War against Ukraine

Abstract

As the continent continues to reel from the effects of a seemingly distant conflict, certain Latin American diplomatic actors have surprised their partners abroad by issuing calls for mediation to end the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. While these proposals have often been dismissed as naïve or cynical, I argue that they ought to be understood in the context of a decades-long Latin American uneasiness with notions of alignment in international relations. To understand the conundrums of this continental foreign policy strategy, I contextualise the history and theory of this uneasy project of active neutrality or non-indifference.