The launch of a new academic journal is both an opportunity and a responsibility. It offers an opportunity to create new spaces for scholarly dialogue at a time when the international system is undergoing profound transformation. At the same time, it carries the responsibility of contributing to academic debate with intellectual rigour, methodological openness, and a commitment to scientific excellence. In this spirit, METIS: Journal of Strategic Autonomy and International Affairs presents its inaugural issue.
The international environment has become increasingly complex, uncertain, and contested. Geopolitical competition, technological transformation, armed conflicts, economic fragmentation, climate change, migration, and the growing interaction between domestic and international politics are reshaping the conditions under which states and societies operate. While interdependence remains one of the defining characteristics of contemporary international relations, it increasingly coexists with a parallel search for greater autonomy in political, economic, technological, and security affairs. Understanding this evolving relationship between interdependence and strategic autonomy constitutes one of the central intellectual challenges of our time.
METIS aims to provide a forum capable of addressing these transformations from a multitude of perspectives. The journal welcomes contributions from across a number of fields—including International Relations, Political Science, European Studies, Security and Strategic Studies, International Political Economy, International Sociology, Political Theory, Comparative Politics, Development Studies, and related disciplines. It embraces a wide range of theoretical traditions and methodological approaches, recognising that the complexity of contemporary international affairs cannot be adequately understood through a single paradigm or analytical framework.
Although strategic autonomy provides the journal with its distinctive identity, METIS does not conceive this concept as a fixed doctrine or a predefined political project. Rather, it understands strategic autonomy as an evolving analytical lens through which to examine how states, regional organisations, and other international actors seek to expand their capacity to make strategic decisions while navigating an increasingly interconnected yet competitive international environment. This perspective naturally invites dialogue with broader debates on international order, global governance, foreign policy, security, regional integration, cooperation, conflict, and the changing distribution of power in world politics.
From its inception, METIS seeks to build bridges between different academic communities and intellectual traditions. The journal aims to encourage dialogue not only across theoretical perspectives but also between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, between established and emerging scholars, and between academia, policymakers, and practitioners. We firmly believe that the most significant advancements in the study of international affairs emerge from rigorous debate, intellectual openness, and the willingness to engage constructively with different viewpoints.
The editorial standards adopted by METIS reflect this commitment. All submissions undergo a rigorous double-blind peer-review process based on originality, scholarly relevance, and methodological rigour. As a Diamond Open Access journal, METIS is equally committed to ensuring that academic knowledge remains freely accessible to researchers, students, policymakers, and society at large, without financial barriers for either readers or authors.
It is particularly fitting that the inaugural issue of METIS is devoted to International Relations in Latin America. At a time when global attention often concentrates on the dynamics of great-power competition, Latin America continues to offer valuable perspectives on regionalism, foreign policy, strategic autonomy, international cooperation, and the evolving architecture of global governance. We are grateful to the Guest Editors for coordinating this Special Issue and to all the contributing authors for helping launch this new editorial project.
No academic journal is built solely by its editorial team. Its development ultimately depends on the confidence of authors, reviewers, readers, and the broader scholarly community. We therefore warmly invite researchers from around the world to contribute to METIS, whether by submitting original research, proposing Special Issues, participating in the peer-review process, or engaging with the debates fostered in its pages.
The ancient Greek concept of Metis refers to wisdom, practical intelligence, and the capacity to navigate uncertainty with judgement and skill. These qualities seem particularly appropriate for understanding the challenges of contemporary international politics. It is our hope that this journal will contribute, however modestly, to that shared intellectual endeavour.
METIS Editorial Team