Respice Polum in Colombia's Voting Behaviour in the UN General Assembly: What the Evidence Shows

What determines small states’ behaviour in multi-lateral organisations? Mainstream theories of international relations expect small states to be conditioned by the power asymmetries in which they are immersed. Recent work has revisited this assumption, highlighting the need to understand the conditions in which small states can exert some agency. We use the case of Colombia to test our argument. Due to the close relationship that Colombia has with the United States, scholars describe Colombia’s behaviour as subordinated to US interests. We provide a more nuanced view of the reasons behind Colombia's foreign policy. We review Colombia's voting behaviour in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and analyse the circumstances under which Colombia votes the same way as the United States. Our findings suggest that while some types of foreign aid and trade dependency increase the chances that Colombia and the US vote similarly in the UNGA, counternarcotics aid decreases the likelihood that Colombia votes as the United States does. Our findings suggest that factors not associated with United States influence predict Colombia's support of United States in the UNGA. For example, the voting behaviour of Latin American and Caribbean Nations.