Universal obligatory military service in Brazil was instituted in 1908 by Hermes da Fonseca, then-Minister of War. Before this, the draft was not systematic, and was often applied in an arbitrary fashion. However, obligatory military service was only effectively begun after an extensive national campaign, initiated by the "Young Turks" - low-ranking Army officers who had been trained in Germany and became advocates of various reforms. They believed that obligatory military service would only be put into practice through a national campaign undertaken by civilians and military personnel. At this point, the National Defense League was created, composed of Brazil's political and literary luminaries who would disseminate the concepts of compulsory military service and civic duty. Military service was always considered fundamental for the formation of the "Concept of Patriotism" amongst youth. With this initiative, obligatory military service was into effect in 1916. Few modifications were made afterwards. Following the military regime (1964-1985) there were some steps taken to end obligatory military service. Suggestions from the Armed Forces were put into effect. The only important change made in the Consitution of 1988 was the provision for conscientious objection. Despite having ruled in Brazil for 20 years, the armed forces still enjoy social prestige, and there have been no consistent arguments against obligatory military service. Some changes have occured, however, these are at the initiative of the armed forces. The armed forces defend maintaining the draft, in order not to lose touch with young people and, to prevent a rift between society and the armed forces. Yet, the Army has been undertaking significant changes, tending toward the delineation of a mixed system--one that combines voluntary with obligatory service.
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In the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack to date, many are discussing how best to fight what some call the new war of the 21st century. Amb. Javier Ruperz comments on how the world must respond to the September 11 events drawing on lessons learned from Spain's 30 year struggle with terrorism. He argues for overwhelming and efficient international action against terrorism in all its forms, and wherever it occurs. In this action, he insists that democratic governments must uphold the rule of law, for if society does not maintain its moral superiority in this war, it will make itself an easy victim of future terrorist acts.
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Canada's armed forces have a unique policy of openness and accessibility, implemented in 1998 to restore flagging public confidence in the country?s military after a series of debilitating public relations failures in the mid-1990s. These were largely the result of incidents of bad behaviour among troops on a UN deployment in 1992. Although the policy is welcome, it has not removed some of the old difficulties which reporters typically experience when trying to get information from government departments.
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Today in Brazil there is a consensus regarding the need to promote substantive changes to our current system of public security. The historical disinterest, intentional or not, among the political class and our elite regarding the strategic importance of police organizations in supporting individual and collective guarantees, is a position that can no longer be defended in the public arena. The public security system forcibly succumbed to the pressures of Brazilian society to provide services capable of accompanying the demands of citizenship extended to all Brazilians. With that, the disinterest did not fail to contribute to the crystalization of an unprecedented institutional crisis. Modern police, perhaps more than any other agency of defense and social control, became extremely permeable and sensitive to the constant transformations of Brazilian society. Among the more polemic issues that spur public debate about the reform of the Brazilian police, the educational formation of the military police stands out. The creation of a discussion forum involving all those who might directly or indirectly contribute to reforming police education, is one of many possibilities to build creative and viable solutions.
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Are arms races and military arms modernization programs the same thing, in other words, a competition for military supremacy? This is an important question, as some countries in South America have acquired and are currently acquiring high-tech arms systems. The criteria for a military arms modernization program differ from those that characterize a traditional arms race. Not only are the variables that lead to and condition the outbreak of an arms competition fundamentally dissimilar from arms modernization programs, but the contextual framework within which this phenomenon occurs is essentially different. That said, to what extent can these arms modernization programs generate perceptions of insecurity?
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The analysis of military expenditures in Latin America is made difficult by lack of homogeneous, coetaneous information for the different countries. This paper seeks to identify the publicly available information about the process of resource allocation to the Chilean Armed Forces, and based on this, to suggest a methodology for assembling of a set of indicators designed to elevate the quality of public information regarding this expenditure, while at the same time allowing the comparison of Chilean military expenditures with those of other countries of the continent, were the methodology adopted by them. This article is part of a larger effort sponsored by the Ford Foundation, to arrive at a common methodology of measurement of military expenditures in the Southern Cone, which has included Argentina, Chile and Peru in its first phase. This paper discusses, first, the institutional elements that condition the allocation of resources to the armed forces, the characteristics of that allocation process and, finally, the main methodological themes that affect the construction of a set of defense expenditures comparable internationally and over time. On the basis of the restrictions that this imposes, a group of indicators of the evolution and characteristics of a country?s defense expenditures is defined.
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This article reviews the current status of obligatory military service in Chile and the current discussions regarding the transformation of the Armed Forces to an all professional force. The author discusses not only the current status in Chile, but also the reforms underway in Argentina and Peru, as well as broader global tendencies in the beginnings of the 21st century. The author argues that the Chilean reform is not as visionary as reforms taking place elsewhere. Instead of eliminating obligatory military service altogether, the Chilean reform is looking to replace obligatory military service with some sort of obligatory social service so that Chilean youth can fulfill their obligation to society. The article presents some possible directions the Chilean reform might take, and concludes that in order to reform the military service, Latin American countries need to first assess the type of armed forces they require today and in the future.
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This article considers the advances of a research project about Comparative Defense Systems, sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities University Center of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. The first section discusses different understandings of the concept of security, because of its ambiguity and complexity, and the missions of the Armed Forces. The second section takes on the role of the Mexican military, based on its missions and functions. In particular, special treatment in given to the direct participation of the military in police and security forces functions (a tendency called militarization of public security); efforts to combat narcotics trafficking and the counter-insurgency war, which allows the Mexican Armed Forces acquire arms training and combat experience, which is considered an important qualitative factor. Finally, the third section questions the future of national defense and its military instrument in Mexico through analysis of the lack of correspondence between national defense and foreign policy; the operational organization, struture and deployment of the Armed Forces; the human factor; the lack of a joint doctrine; the defense system and internal security, among other topics. The paper ends with some unanswered questions in the subject, in hopes of generating public debate about the role of the Armed Forces and a clear definition of National Security.
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This article seeks to identify the attitudes that the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and Mexico have adopted toward the redefinition of the concept, and of the institutions of hemispheric security that are being developed in the Hemispheric Security Commission (HSC) of the Organization of American States (OAS). Based on the documents from the April 20-21, 1999, and March 20-21, 2000, sessions of the HSC, the article established the positions of these countries regarding five questions: their evaluation of the current state of security in the Americas; those phenomenon that each country considers to be a so-called "new threat," or "non-traditional threat" to hemispheric security; the proposals the countries make about the conceptualization of inter-american security; the evaluation and proposals of reform of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance and the Inter-American Defense Board; and, the role that each country believes the OAS - specifically the HSC - in the process of redefining the Inter-American security system. Finally, the agreements and disagreements between these countries on these issues are analyzed.
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This article briefly describes the law as pertained to obligatory military service in Peru between 1823 and 2000. From there the author goes on to describe the recent reforms to obligatory service made by the Peruvian legislature. The author indicates that global changes in attitude toward obligatory service, as well as the changing situation in Peru were factors in the decision to overhaul the laws regarding obligatory service. The article discusses some of the particular changes made by the law, which took effect January 1, 2000, and indicates that, unlike the tendency in other countries, however, the Peruvian reform is not seeking to establish a completely professional military. Instead the new Peruvian model is one of a rotational volunteer service in which enlisted personnel would receive occupational training for their eventual, productive reincorporation into Peruvian society.
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