Using a blend of global, intellectual and cultural history, this book explores the geopolitics of Juan Perón and their relationship to, and impact on, the international history of the mid-20th century. Beginning with Perón’s formative years, it analyzes the concepts that helped shape his anti-imperialist views and traces these ideas over decades from his time in the Argentine Army through his rise to power, downfall, and eventual death in 1974. Dissecting how notions of imperialism, nationalism and decolonization fueled his ideology and approach to foreign policy, Juan Perón’s Anti-Imperialist Geopolitics takes a long-term approach to understand his geopolitical evolution over time.While Peronism has continued to be an influential movement in Argentine politics and remains a lively research topic, Perón’s geopolitics have received scant attention despite their significance to his popularity and legacy. This book offers a corrective to this, situating Peronism, Argentina, and Latin America on the international stage during the 20th century. From his pioneering role in the era’s anti-imperialist solidarity movement, his expansion of the Peronist development model to a global model and his efforts to establish a post-imperial world through the Non-Aligned Movement, Juan Perón’s Anti-Imperialist Geopolitics argues that Perón merits recognition as a leading 20th-century geopolitical thinker.
Robert D. Koch is an independent historian based in Lisbon, Portugal. He received his PhD from University of South Florida in 2020, and was previously a military officer.
Introduction1. Encountering the World: Nationalism, the Argentine Army, and Imperialism2. National Development Amid Great Depression Woes3. Perón, Fascism, and Imperialist Geopolitics as World War Brewed4. Anti-Imperialism, and Containment During the Second World War5. Bipolar Imperialism, Decolonization, and President Perón’s “Third Position”6. Global Anti-Imperialist Rebellion: The “Hour of the Peoples” and Perón’s Downfall7. North-to-South Axis of Imperialism: Perón, Revolutionary Politics, and Counterinsurgency8. Revolutionary Perón: Armed Struggle Toward a Post-Imperial WorldConclusionNotesIndex
Koch offers an important multidimensional framework to understand Pero´n’s geopolitics. As such, the book is relevant to readers interested not only in Argentine history and Peronism but also in alternative ideological and political models from the Third World.