The Inter-American Defense System can be analyzed as regional security governance, in which mechanisms and practices of different levels and scopes coexist and overlap in time, space and function. The objective of this article is to study how this overlapping has affected the provision of security in successive historical contexts and what is the current situation, based on a functional approach. To this end, the performance of mechanisms related to collective security (56 conflicts) and cooperative security (5 issues) will be examined, identifying the dynamics between the different levels. This analysis will lead to the conclusion that, since the creation of UNASUR, the overlapping of mechanisms has shifted from a cooperative interaction to a complex one, in which competitive tendencies are reinforced. Based on this, the design of a better articulated governance that reflects the leading role of the regions as providers of security within the hemispheric system is proposed.