The purpose of this paper is to analyze the involvement of civil police forces in peacekeeping operations. The theoretical background of civil police forces, as well as their characteristics and specific elements, will be examined. This paper also contains a discussion of the participation of the Chilean police forces in peacekeeping operations.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the principles that underlie the creation of an Inter-American System for Cooperation in Security and Defense Matters that would be utilized to respond to the new threats facing the hemisphere. The paper reviews the theoretical background of international regulations and of the Rio Treaty with a view to determining whether there is a current Inter-American system for cooperation in defense-related matters, or whether there is no such system and efforts need to be made in order to create it.
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This paper describes the organizational structure of the Peruvian National Defense System. After discussing the role of the different entities that make up the Defense System, the budget assigned to each sector is analized. Special emphasis is placed on transparency of the defense sector budget and, in particular, of the budget of the intelligence service. The initial analysis of the defense sector and its budget indicate that the available information is scarce and almost useless given that it does not allow for analysis of the social worth of individual projects associated with that sector. Likewise, a large part of the budget is destined for actions oriented toward social spending programs. This causes a distorsion in the analysis of the rest of the government's social spending policy. It is difficult to measure how defense spending destined for social programs complements or substitutes other government actions. A common theme throughout the sector is the cult of secrecy and the lack of transparency, as well as difficulty in accessing data. The situation has recently improved with the publication of the Defense White Paper. However, in our opinion, there is still much to done.
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The changes that have occurred in the Western world in recent decades have produced many transformations in society. One of the areas that has been most openly affected is the military institution, derived from the redefinition of the State, new non-combat missions assigned to the armed forces, the continuation of traditional militaries and the deepening convergence of civilians and the military. Based on the book "The Postmodern Military" by Moskos, Segal and Allen, the author analyzes in this article, the impact that postmodernity is having on the military arena in Latin America and how the military is acting or reacting to this. In addition, the author analyzes the organizational changes and recommends some skills or traits that the professionals in the armed forces should acquire in the face of this era of change.
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In discussing the restructuring of the defense sector in Nicaragua, I allude to a qualitative and quantitative process in which the armed forces and all civilian agencies related to defense participate, and in which the role of civilian society and international cooperation are considered. This paper presents a general characterization of the process - the reduction of personnel and budget, the reform and modernization of the legal framework of defense, the performance of the Legislature, the Ministry of Defense, civilian society and international cooperation. Finally, by way of conclusion, an incomplete list of "lessons not learned" is provided.
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Through cowardly attacks against targets in the Americas, fundamentalist terrorism has made it clear that it is no longer a distant threat, becoming a serious issue of national security for all Western countries?one on which they all must cooperate in order to defeat. Nevertheless, it can be said that this is not a new conflict, rather the religious nature of the war has given the aggressors different appreciation of time and space, which has not been adequately understood by the West. The evolution and characteristics of this particular conflict can be examined from three perspectives, which, responding to different modes of action, attempt to explain the phenomenon of growing Islamic fundamentalism and its fanatic violence. First, the paper will discuss the rise to power of the Islamic revolution in Iran and fundamentalism, its global influence and actions taken as a result of its initiative. Second, the evolution of the fundamentalist guerrilla war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan will be examined, as well as Afghanistan?s participation in the holy war and the later development of the civil war. Finally, from a third perspective, the appearance of Osama bin Laden as the apparent global fundamentalist leader will be analyzed.
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