Resumo

AMIN, Mario Miguel. The Amazon in World Geopolitics of the Strategic Resources of the Twenty-first Century. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais [online]. 2015, n.107, pp.17-38. ISSN 2182-7435.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the geopolitically strategic position of the Amazon region in the context of the scarcity of the strategic natural resources needed for the growth of the world economy in the twenty-first century. Since the 1980s, the globalization paradigm has defined a new geopolitical configuration determined by the growing international demand for strategic natural resources. In this new global environment, the search for “vital areas” has become a critical factor for those hegemonic economies which have, for centuries, decreed the course of international trade. In this process, those regions rich in strategic resources have thus been the centre of international attention. The Amazon region, which holds the largest stock of strategic resources - water, minerals, biodiversity - on the planet, is set to be the vital area of the twenty-first century. A new geopolitical reality is being established for the Amazon region, demanding a greater state presence not only to achieve its economic growth and sustainable development but to reaffirm the sovereignty of the region, too.

Palavras-chave : Amazon; geopolitics; globalization; natural resources; regional sovereignty.

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