Latin American armed forces have a wide array of missions, from defense and security to humanitarian asistance/disaster relief (HA/DR), to United Nations peacekeeping operations (PKOs). However, there is one mission that has gained importance in recent years: environmental protection. The heightened risks of climate change have made governments in the Americas more aware of environmental protection and have assigned many Latin American militaries to the mission. This article examines the activities of the Peruvian armed forces to protect the environment of the Andean and Amazonian nation.
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To commemorate the 20th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies and US Southern Command published an edited collection of essays, Twenty Years, Twenty Stories: Women, Peace, and Security in the Western Hemisphere, that reflect the inclusion of women across mission areas including cyber, peacekeeping, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. This book elevates the voices of talented women and men working in defense and security across the Western Hemisphere and highlights Perry Center alumni.
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To commemorate the 20th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies and US Southern Command published an edited collection of essays, Twenty Years, Twenty Stories: Women, Peace, and Security in the Western Hemisphere, that reflect the inclusion of women across mission areas including cyber, peacekeeping, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. This book elevates the voices of talented women and men working in defense and security across the Western Hemisphere and highlights Perry Center alumni.
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Patrick Paterson's monograph, Training Surrogate Forces in International Humanitarian Law: Lessons from Peru, Colombia, El Salvador, and Iraq, leverages the author’s vast experience in Latin American history to examine how US Special Operations Forces (USSOF) train surrogate forces. He argues that it is necessary to employ United States Special Operations Command's (USSOCOM) indirect approach to grow and build partnership capacity through foreign internal defense (FID) and to find a balance with international humanitarian law (IHL). Paterson also examines the legal issues and restrictions on training and equipping foreign forces and the impact of these exchanges with our partners. His research methodology includes extensive interviews and incorporates a historical case study approach, examining FID efforts in Peru, Colombia, and El Salvador for lessons learned, and then compares and contrasts USSOF train and equip efforts in Iraq.
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For a special report on the Commission, the Perry Center Publications Editor-in-Chief Patrick Paterson met with Professor Richard Wilson, Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the Washington College of Law, to discuss the most important cases or reports in the history of the Commission. Professor Wilson, a frequent lecturer at the Perry Center, is a longtime observer of the Commission and Court, where he and his students have presented more than 30 cases. Of the thousands of cases and reports of the Commission, Professor Wilson selected a few that he thought were especially important or influential.
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