Geopolitics in South America: From the militarisation of discipline to the need for academic debate

Abstract

The object of the present article is to analyse some of the factors that have led to the use of geopolitics in South America as a broad, vague concept intended to explain certain international processes. To do this we seek to problematize geopolitics from its concept; and in parallel we present a historical description of the evolution of the discipline in the Region, taking into account the regional context, the geopolitical perception of some of those involved, and the role played by the military in its development – especially during the Cold War.We will also consider some of the elements that determine the need to increase debate within the discipline from the universityperspective, since there are certain aspects – such as identity and the perspective of space– that cannot be understoodfrom the “traditional” viewpoint. We conclude that the development of the discipline in the region requires debate about geopoliticsbetween the academicsphere and the Armed Forces, to obtain a better understanding of what is, and what is not, understood by the term.