A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century

Imagine a country that was once a rising star among the “recently settled areas,” whose economy was one of the fastest growing in the world and was able to attract both foreign investment and waves of European immigrants. This country was also a pioneer in establishing an inclusive democracy in Latin America. Its future, at the turn of the twentieth century, could not look brighter. After suffering a long series of authoritarian regimes (including one of the most murderous dictatorships of the region) and several devastating economic crises, the same country is today barely pulling out from its worst economic and political disaster. Argentina, a country that once seemed destined to being a regional leader, finds that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, in the words of Luis Alberto Romero, an aurea mediocritas is, after all, a desirable destiny. What has been characterized as “the Argentine counter-miracle” has mystified...