Throughout the last decades, the armies of the European countries have evolved in a non-concerted but convergent way, developing common characteristics among which the growing integration of women, both in the troop class and in the officer ranks, stands out. This work makes a comparative exercise of the different national cases, establishing as basic elements of analysis the antecedents of the presence of women in the Army, the normative evolution that has protected and governed their incorporation to the ranks, their specific quantitative and qualitative dimensions in the armies, the diverse modalities of access to the academies, the possible limitations in the professional career, and the level of evolution of certain social policies that favor the professional development and the family norms.
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This presentation was offered at the conference on "Illicit Trafficking Activities in the Western Hemisphere: Possible Strategies and Lessons Learned" held by the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) on May 21, 2010.
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China's engagement with Latin America on satellites, space launch, and space technology is limited, but expanding rapidly, following the logic that China has followed in other strategically important sectors of incrementally building relationships, and leveraging initial opportunities to develop and prove capabilities. This article analyzes China's expanding relationship with Latin America in the arena in terms of four countries: (1) those with limited space capabilities not actively pursuing space programs, with whom the PRC has few space-related ties, (2) populist regimes such as Venezuela and Bolivia purchasing complete packages of PRC satellite systems and launch services, (3) other countries developing space capabilities, where China has sought to be a service provider or technology partner, including Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru, and (4) Brazil as an emerging regional power with a multidimensional space program, which has cooperated with the PRC in both satellite development and launch through the CBERS program. In general, by leveraging business opportunities with Brazil and populist regimes of the region, the PRC is gaining a foothold in the commercial satellite and launch services market, with Chinese equipment, personnel, and space systems becoming part of Latin America's infrastructure, with significant implications for the US and the region.
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Brazil advanced the proposal for the South American Defense Council shortly before the summit that created UNASUR. It was approved a few months later on the occasion of another summit. The Defense Council is unprecedented in the region and challenges member states to design foreign policy together. Considering the history of security and defense arrangements in the hemisphere, Brazilian leadership in security and defense matters is an interesting new move towards regionalism. Besides the Council, during the Lula da Silva administration there have also been some other attempts at governance-building in and outside the region under Brazilian leadership. Since the theme of leadership is recurrent, especially since the military rule in Brazil, is there old wine in new bottles? Why Brazil? Why now?-these are the main research questions of this work, which also analyzes institution design and functions. Both the distinction and the connection between defense and security are explored together with an examination of both leadership and regionalism in Brazilian foreign policy and its recent move towards institution-building to deal with security and defense matters multilaterally. The paper suggests that whether the Council will be more inclined to deal with issues inside or outside the region is a key factor for the prospects of its effectiveness and endurance.
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The incorporation of women into terrorist groups has occurred in disparate ways and with commitments characterized by gradual rhythms. This paper approaches the problem heuristically from a culturalist perspective, which has as its explanatory axis the male-female relationship. It is found that women leaders of terrorist organizations, or protagonists of emblematic acts, are rather a rarity, except in the Salvadoran and German experiences; both with quasi-epic connotations. Among the explanatory keys, the environmental influence of the machismo of the time is proposed, especially in Latin America, and reflected both in the very beginnings of the Cuban guerrillas and later in the various insurrectional pockets. The environmental influence would act as a major inhibiting factor. At the same time, the proletarian internationalism that was the basis for the proliferation of such groups seems to have been, at its core, a male thing. There is no record of women (not even Cuban) fighting alongside the mythical Ché in Bolivia; nor is there any record of any revolutionary leader accompanying Guevara in his previous journeys to the Congo, Algeria and others. A second major finding aims at explaining the irruption of women as suicide bombers as a product for communicational consumption. The crudeness of this incorporation of women into the great Chechen and Palestinian terrorist causes is rather frightening and raises a very pertinent doubt as to whether this phase responds to a construct or to a reliable integration into the cause they appear to embrace.
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The next three decades will witness the most important geopolitical change of the last few centuries: the rise of Asian power and the restructuring of the system of international relations. This paper aims to show how, why and with what consequences a progressive transfer of influence and a shift of power centers towards the region is already taking place. In order to analyze this, the reasons behind the rise of the Asian group on the global scene and the structural changes brought about by its incorporation will be pointed out; the main instruments of projection towards the rest of the world will be studied and, in more detail, the strategic repercussions for the Americas of the emergence of a new system of international relations, the Eastphalian system, will be discussed.
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