Argentina´s conflicting identities seem to us to be extraordinary. By their own popular history, there is the conflict between the "sophisticated" metropolis/capitol Buenos Aires and the rural cattle barrons that control the power in Buenos Aires. There is also:

-- the aspiration to be a Europrean nation (with the Itialian blood and lingual influence) versus the geography and authoritian klepto-culture that set it firmly in South America.

-- the expansionary, triumphalist military claiming the Falkland Islands and part of Antactica vs. the impotence in warring with second-class power Great Britian, let alone the U.S., a nation it once regarded as a rival and is now the world hegemon.

-- the money and style for which it yearns vs. the financial humilation of the November 2001 bank crisis, and currency devaluation.

In some ways, this is the U.S. that failed. As China and India take over global dominance, and we suffer decline at home, this may also be our future, faded glory.