La proyección continental americana dio sus primeros pasos enla delineación geográfica de Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), que seharía visible en un plano planetario con el mapa mundial de MartinWaldseemüller de 1507. El mundus novus era una realidad geopolítica, denominada América en honor a Vespucci. Es España quientoma los pasos iniciales hacia una percepción geopolítica continental de este mundus. Un motivo detrás de la “mirada continental” española, se debía a la necesidad de proteger al nuevo sistemageopolítico de los avances de potencias rivales (europeas e indígenas). Hacia el sur, se buscaba asegurar los hallazgos de plata en Potosí en 1545, lo que conllevó a la colonización del Río de la Plata yla posterior creación del Virreinato del Río de la Plata, en 1776. Lomismo sucedió hacia el norte, con el propósito de defender la platade Zacatecas y al estratégico Virreinato de Nueva España, a travésde las fronteras hacia Texas, Florida y la provincia de California.En el caso de Portugal, su alcance territorial, hasta mediados delsiglo XVI, llegó a la costa atlántica sudamericana. La situacióncambió con la integración de las coronas española y portuguesapor medio de la Unión Ibérica, en 1580. Bajo el reinado de FelipeII (1527-1598), las posesiones ibéricas, entonces unidas, crearonun estado de proyección continental americana. La América española se abrió al comercio portugués, produciendo también un gran211Parte III: Conceptosestímulo para una mayor migración a través de las antiguas fronteras. Este fue el comienzo del drang nach westen brasileño, lo cualconformó una tendencia geopolítica que marcaría el proceso haciaun estado-nación brasileño en un marco de expansión continentalsudamericano (Pandiá Calógeras, 1998: 155-159). Una diferenciaentre Portugal y España fue que, para Portugal, el marco de acción“continental” era América del Sur, mientras que, para España, erael continente americano. 

This chapter aims to analyse the connections between geopolitics, the environment, and development. A relevant perspective on this theme is from ‘environmental geopolitics,’ used to identify hidden complexities in relations portrayed as dominant. This position is inspired mainly by ‘critical geopolitics,’ going beyond states and material, spatial practices, with a focus on ‘representational spaces’ and ‘imagined geographies.’ From that point of view, ‘State’ and ‘capitalism’ are regarded as involved in a neo-liberal discourse, justifying exploitation of ‘cheap nature’ and ‘cheap human labour.’ This chapter deepens into the Latin American debate on these issues, where ‘development has become associated with ‘colonialist modernity’ and ‘predatory neo-liberalism,’ promoting patriarchal and hierarchical states without considering environmental or social dimensions. Our chapter contends that such a view of ‘development’ can be deconstructed and reimagined by engaging with other forms of Latin American imaginaries derived from different disciplines. Our chapter addresses a twofold integration based on ‘regionalist,’ ‘developmental,’ ‘nationalist,’ and geopolitical perspectives. A challenge of the twenty-first century is to find a balance between geopolitical and developmental projections alongside structural concerns related to environmental, ethnic, and gender issues.

El objetivo de este capítulo es hacer un análisis del proceso de construcción y actualidad del Mercosur, desde un punto de vista geopolítico

This chapter offer insights into how development discourses are formulated, as well as how power drivers push and pull to move agendas. It analyzes the emergence of divergent paths between mainstream and heterodox positions in the elaboration of development-oriented policies. The main area of analysis here is the interface between the politics of international development and the influence of geopolitics, addressing that international arenas were not separated from power structures and interests. In the case of the UN, there was a tension between those experts aligned with the views from great powers and those with diverging goals, the so-called 'defiant bureaucrats'. The chapter pays particular attention on this 'defiant' positions that could be found at both global and regional oriented agencies. For example, the UN's regional economic commissions and the United Nations Commerce and Trade Conference (UNCTAD).

The issue of regional integration has been widely analyzed and debated for a long time. Yet, there is still a limited connection between regional integration issues and geopolitical perspectives. With an analysis focused on Latin America, this study aims to map out theory and practice on this subject. In doing so, the study explores different points of view in relation to regions and geopolitics, and how these two elements are combined in the specific topic of regional integration. This article shows that, in Latin America, there are specific contributions, such as the so-called ‘geopolitics of integration’. Different variations across time and states are identified, as well as common elements such as the search for ‘autonomy’ and ‘development’ as related to issues such as ‘nationalism’ and ‘resistance’ toward imperialism.

El objetivo de este artículo es resaltar y analizar los aportes del pensamiento geopolítico latinoamericano.  En primer lugar, se mostrará que hay algo que puede ser llamado pensamiento geopolítico latinoamericano, con raíces muy profundas que llegan al período colonial. Este se enlaza, muy temprano, con la nueva dimensión llamada geopolítica, con respecto al análisis de la relación entre Estado, nación, territorio y sistema internacional. Como se mostrará en el artículo, surgen variedades de pensamiento geopolítico en distintos países de la región, así como en diferentes dimensiones de análisis. En segundo lugar, nos enfocaremos en demostrar que, más allá de las diferencias, hay dos elementos comunes por resaltar en el pensamiento geopolítico de la región. Por un lado la dimensión del “desarrollo”, y, por otro, la “integración regional”. Dos elementos que pueden ser vistos tanto por separado como en conjunto, siendo la “geopolítica de la integración” la contribución más importante desde América Latina. 

Rudolf Kjellén, regularly referred to as “the father of geopolitics,” developed in the first decade of the twentieth century an analytical model for calculating the capabilities of great-power states and promoting their interests in the international arena. It was an ambitious intellectual project that sought to bring politics into the sphere of social science. Bringing together experts on Kjellén from across the disciplines, Territory, State and Nation explores the century-long international impact, analytical model, and historical theories of a figure immensely influential in his time who is curiously little-known today.

This study analyses the geopolitical dimension of the Catholic Church’s activity in Latin America. This involves ideas related to political control, administration and power over territory. It is also related to the pastoral activity of the Church. As shown, the geopolitics of the Church is related to its internal organization as well as in its relations with states and society. The creation and adaptation of geopolitical visions are made through internal processes in connection with political and cultural forces around the Church. This is identified as the religeopolitical scope of the Catholic Church, analysed in this study from a long-term perspective. During colonial times, the geopolitical vision was linked to consolidating global imperial structures. After the shock of the independence period, there was a reconnection to the new states and a reconstruction of geopolitical visions that in time was transformed into a Latin American ‘continental’ vision. Along this line, the study explores the contemporary confluence between the Catholic Church and geopolitics through ideas and conceptual frameworks such as the Patria Grande. Issues such as regional integration, popular theology and Catholic social commitment are presented as core elements of the Church’s geopolitics in Latin America.