The objective of this paper is to analyze, apply and then contrast the four theoretical pillars of terrorism to the war against narcoterrorism that the Mexican government has developed between 2007 and 2011. The central hypothesis proposes that there is no terrorism in Mexico, because the core elements that support this concept, such as political motivation, premeditation, attack on civilians and generalized terror, are not seen in reality.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the political discourse and public policies that gave rise to the Democratic Security Policy implemented in Colombia by President Uribe during his two administrations between 2002 and 2010, and to evaluate its results. For this purpose, the security discourse proposed by the candidate in his "Democratic Manifesto" is studied, confronted with the public policies included in the Development Plans and implemented during his presidency, the consistency between the political discourse and governmental actions is analyzed, and its results are evaluated on the basis of objective security indicators.
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The taking of political power through arms has been the main objective of insurgent groups around the world. Mao was the first to achieve this and developed a model that others have tried to emulate; but has proven to be impractical due to its basic premises such as popular mobilization (which has been very difficult to achieve), and the permanent intention to provoking the "masses" to rise against their government. This article studies the basic elements of the Maoist model and its application in different regions of the world, including Latin America, and how over time variations have arisen that have fundamentally altered it, giving way to military action as the predominant method.
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Terrorism has not ended in Peru, it has mutated, because remnants of the Shining Path, the terrorist organization that caused so much damage to the country, have become, according to the latest social studies, a gang at the service of drug trafficking, who still bleed the country of the Incas. Operating clandestinely, the fear that they still produce in places lacking the presence of the State (mostly entrenched in the rugged geography of the Peruvian jungle) is due to their use of guerrilla techniques and asymmetric combat to beat the forces of order and State institutions, which try to prevent their new modus operandi. During the previous government (2006-2010), they became aware of the threat to governance that terrorism represents, and for this reason they established strategic policies focused on the restructuring of the ways to face the serious problems that have been originating, giving priority to terrorist actions in the Apurimac and Ene river valleys, located in the southern part of the country, where the greatest violence is concentrated, adding to the purely military strategies others that allow the development of the area and the presence of the State, However, in practice, it left aside another area where there are still men who have taken up arms and who, hiding behind their socialist claims, protect the drug cartels in the upper Huallaga River basin. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective, concrete, quantifiable policies similar to those of the southern area in order to support the police and State institutions that counteract this threat in this part of the country, which is the final objective of this paper.
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Using the concepts of resilience and complex networks, this paper explores the strategic behavior of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and elaborates a map that contributes to the broad reflection on the sustainability of illegal armed organizations.
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The little press, analysis and debate regarding the 1970-1973 insurgency and counterinsurgency could be explained by the impact that this period would have on the linear and nuanced narratives that the "two sides" of the Dirty War have created throughout the period beginning in 1976. Paradoxically, one of the few, if not the only, consensuses among the protagonists of the Argentine drama is based on the silence or omission of the years studied in this essay. This is a subject that has and will have for many years to come a set of passions, ideological struggles and crossed and irreconcilable positions. It is not possible to vindicate or surreptitiously relativize the abyss of violence and cruelty into which our country fell almost four decades ago. This study will explore the events of the 1970s in Argentina in close collaboration with previous studies of criticism from both sides of the conflict between the government and insurgent groups.
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Does US military aid buy recipient state compliance? In this study, we systematically investigate the effects of U.S. military assistance on recipient state behavior toward the United States. We present and test three different models—Arms for Influence, Lonely Superpower, and Reverse Leverage—that might capture the relationship between military aid and recipient state cooperation. Using innovative events data that measure cooperation between the United States and recipient states between 1990 and 2004, we test seven hypotheses using a combination of simultaneous equation, cross-sectional time series, and Heckman selection models. We find, with limited exceptions, support for the Reverse Leverage model: increasing levels of US military aid significantly reduce cooperative foreign policy behavior with the United States. U.S. reaction to recipient state behavior is also counterintuitive; our results show that recipient state cooperation is likely to lead to subsequent reductions in US military assistance, rather than proving the theory of success based on a carrot and stick approach.
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The June 2009 military coup that ousted democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya resulted in the international isolation of the interim successor government of Roberto Micheletti and months of political turmoil that did not subside until after the election of current President Porfirio Lobo in November 2009. Honduran politics have stabilized in some important respects since Lobo's inauguration: The economy has slowly recovered, and the 2011 Cartagena Accord signed by Lobo and Zelaya has politically reintegrated the leftist former president via his new Liberty and Refoundation Party (LIBRE) and reinstated Honduras in the Organization of American States (OAS). However, Honduras' reconstructed democracy is fragile. Rising crime and unrelieved poverty have decimated President Lobo's approval ratings and encouraged widespread distrust of democratic institutions. To the extent that Zelaya's LIBRE is able to capitalize on this discontent in the upcoming 2013 elections, these institutions will be seriously tested.
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In the last two years, the violence and visibility of the conflict between the Paraguayan State and the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) has escalated significantly, due to the appearance of new weapons, tactics, and increasing involvement of foreign advisers on both sides as each has adapted to gain advantage over the other. Although the nature of the EPP has become somewhat clearer, many areas still need to be better understood in order for the Paraguayan state to effectively defeat this threat, which it can still do at relatively low cost if it adopts the right strategy and takes appropriate action. This article provides some of that understanding by identifying the events and breakthroughs which occurred in roughly two phases: government offensive (2010) and EPP adaptation (2011). The author concludes that groups such as the EPP are not merely police/justice problems, but state problems, and the most successful states are those that recognize this early and employ all the elements of national power to deal with the problem not only to reduce or eliminate the violence, but to prevent its regeneration.
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The collapse of the Soviet Union is the most important strategic inflection that consolidates the era of transformation towards democracy in the world. In Latin America, the changes towards democracy were dramatic and irreversible. In this order of ideas, the opening created by the privatization process as a result of the third wave of democratization in Latin America, together with globalization, have emphasized the role of the State in its responsibility to provide the security and defense that allows the exercise of democracy and development. In Central America, the privatization of security has occurred as a consequence of the pacification process at the end of the 1980s, democratization and globalization. In this order, the State has shown itself incapable of providing the common good of security. This essay aims to analyze the state of control and supervision of the privatization of security and defense in Central America and its impact and trends in the current security environment in the region.
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