This essay explores the more than 230-year-long development of the military justice system of the United States, a process that began even before the country's constitution was written. It examines the contributions to the jurisprudence of other countries made by the justice system of the U.S. armed forces and looks at some of the most important controversies accompanying its development. It also presents some of the contemporary issues facing both the U.S. military and civil society in the early 21st century, as the United States conducts actions against hostile non-state actors who threaten both the security and human rights of democracies around the world.
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Military forces in Latin America are being called upon by governments and society to contribute to the fight against non-state armed actors such as criminal gangs, drug traffickers and terrorists. In order to accomplish this task, there is the possibility of actions within the framework of human rights and international humanitarian law. If the armed groups faced by governments meet certain objective characteristics and there is political will, the application of international humanitarian law is viable, as Colombia has demonstrated; the norm is legitimate and facilitates the neutralization and dismantling of the threat.
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Strategic communications is a key means of gaining acceptance of one's ideas, policies or courses of action. As such it plays a critical role in helping the United States to reinforce understanding of its values and culture — including support for its ideas, policies and courses of action — both within its war-fighting establishment and by the rest of the world. This article examines the historical actions of military chaplains to shed light on a critical aspect of their work; their ministries as strategic communications platforms from which they carry out a pastoral role while offering, as valued members of the military inner circle, religious, moral, spiritual and ethical advice to leadership, both at the strategic and tactical levels. It examines the role of the American military chaplaincy as a strategic communications phenomenon that predates the concept itself. A buzzword emanating from the 1990s that gained even greater currency in the September 11, 2001 global "war of ideas" — "strategic communications" might appear to be a new concept. Yet for centuries military chaplains have labored as strategic communicators in an effort to win support within the armed forces for their countries' national policy and doctrine.
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After the Cold War, European countries, in both East and West, faced the same question, namely how their military organizations and those of their neighbors would respond to changes in international relationships, to their perceptions of the threats (whether regional or global) and to the control of security among nations. Faced with this new reality, their processes of change were inevitably influenced by a new conception of roles framed in cooperation and, even more so, in integration. These new demands made it imperative, in view of such processes, to obtain a degree of acceptable "interoperability" among their armed forces. In a regional context of differing alliances, our American region and specifically its armed forces has increasingly transitioned into specific activities of cooperation, particularly into integrating multinational forces for Peacekeeping Missions (e.g. MINUSTAH in Haiti), in which the "interoperability" factor has played an key role with regard to its employment and the degree of achievement of the mission. This article seeks to highlight, from an objective academic point of view, the importance of such capacities in an atmosphere of cooperation and integration among armed forces.
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In Latin America, where limited probabilities of international conflict are envisioned, the Armed Forces in democratic countries perform multiple tasks. This paper analyzes four of these tasks, leaving aside the traditional mobilization in the event of natural catastrophes: the fight against drug trafficking; the fight against insurgent organizations and terrorism; control of land conflicts; and the protection of government property. When we understand this multiplicity of tasks, we understand that it is essential to keep in mind the complexity of factors that impact on, and interact in, each particular national case. These factors are of a political, historical, geographical and cultural nature, and can be both structural and situational. Ignoring this heterogeneity and adopting positions in standard terms of what "should be" in this area would mean relying on erroneous assumptions and standards.
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Scholars have analyzed participation by civilians in defense ministries in Latin America from a dual perspective: as part of a civilian-military integration and as an instrument of civilian control of the sector. These practices have been adopted in a context of democratic consolidation and, in the governmental sphere, of a demand for rationalization and greater efficiency and effectiveness in the conduct of government. The case of Chile is a good example of this. Since the restoration of democracy (1990), the inclusion of civilians in the Ministry has been a constant. All of the ministers have been civilians, as have all undersecretaries; however, because the Ministry does not have a permanent staff of civilian professionals, an Advisory Committee has gradually and inorganically developed within the Ministry, which brings in people who provide advisory services on political, politico-strategic, budgetary, international, communications and auditing issues.
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This paper covers a part of the post-doctoral research conducted by the author at UNESP-Franca in 2005. It is an analytical comparison between the military-naval education models developed in Brazil and Argentina within the context of the post-authoritarian regimes that are current nowadays. Also, two main aspects regarding professional training in both countries is dealt with within the context of any regional cooperation agreements and the Mercosur.
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