Security & Strategic Review -May 2007

Argentina has rejoined the US-organised Unitas naval exercises after a four-year absence. Ecuador has pulled out of Unitas in a temper over what it perceives as US disregard for its sovereignty. Several analysts have seen this as confirming a drift towards improved relations between Washington and Buenos Aires, and increasingly frostier relations with Quito. The two headline events distracted attention from the strategic framework in which the US is now casting Unitas - the 'thousand-ship navy' (TSN).