Abstract

BITAR, Sebastián; LLANOS, Catalina  and  CANO, Carlos Nicolás. Beginnings and Historical Importance of the Foreign Policy Advisory Commission in Colombia. Desafíos [online]. 2022, vol.34, n.spe, e06.  Epub Nov 05, 2023. ISSN 0124-4035.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/desafios/a.11908.

The Foreign Policy Advisory Commission (Comisión Asesora de Relaciones Exteriores) is a consulting body that advises the President of Colombia. Unfortunately, its history and performance have been rarely studied. In this paper we present evidence of the historical importance of the commission and its growing irrelevance. In the first half of the 20th century this commission was a remarkable professional body whose advice mattered in foreign policy making processes. The commission contributed greatly in all of the important foreign policy issues of the time, including reestablishing relations with the United States after the separation of Panama and guiding Colombia's participation in the creation and establishment of international norms and of international institutions. However, during the second half of the 20th century and the start of the 21st, the commission lost its advisory role and its foreign policy expert members, becoming more and more captured by politicians and ultimately made irrelevant. Based on this analysis, we propose ways to transform the commission and recover its role as advisory body.

Keywords : Foreign policy; Colombia; foreign policy advisory commission; politicization; Congress.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )