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.
Read more
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.
Read more
This article deals with the significant role technological innovations play in the strengthening of Brazil's military capabilities, based on the qualitative nature of modern warfare, and any security issues that the nation faces in early 21st Century. Thus, it reviews the phenomenon that many authors call the RAM (Revolution in Military Affairs) of the nineties, resulting from the IT process of the combat means. But any political implications are more relevant than any mere operational issues of this RAM, to the extent that it provides a cost reduction for the nations that are at the forefront of the interventionism as an instrument of international action. However, it has also generated vulnerabilities, and improved the involvement of non-governmental protagonists in armed conflicts. Based on these verifications, the article seeks to show the consequences of this new geo-strategic scheme for Brazil and, using any plausible threats for the country as criteria, it intends to discriminate any items of the present RAM that need to be incorporated into the Armed Forces structure, based on the premise that any economic reactivation of the national warfare industry is a required condition to channel any significant investment to P&D military efforts. Thus, the article seeks to find out which are the variables that interfere with the problem to design a strategy to facilitate, with any limited resources available, an adequate solution to sort any hurdles for streamlining the Armed Forces.
Read more
The world is perplexed at the changes that are inexorably and definitively altering the way it operates. This is partially revealed in the technological progress achieved in the last fifteen years. But the change is not only technological; it is also human, and we believe that therein lies part of the solution. The speed at which this change has occurred and will continue to occur is the fundamental feature of the process we are experiencing and will put most, if not all, existing paradigms to the test. It is therefore worthwhile to ask ourselves what will motivate the leaders of these organizations to recognize the existence of change as an increasingly widespread cultural phenomenon, to embrace its philosophy and promote the appropriate changes to align themselves with reality. The final result would be forces designed with a high degree of interoperability, able to interact with other forces on a regional level. Modernization, transformation, both or neither? A conceptual approach to this fascinating topic will allow us to clarify ideas, to ultimately ensure that interoperability is not the problem; it is simply part of the solution.
Read more
The document presents a study of how many components of the process of change in the United States of America can influence or come to have an influence on operational compatibility between the Argentina Navy and the US Navy within the medium term, in accordance with the leadership guidelines, and believing that it could serve as a foundation for a series of discussion meetings on this issue. The "joint" setting is a vital component in the following analysis, as it is one of the conceptual bases of the aforementioned change.
Read more
This paper reviews the relationship between Defense and the federal public budget, with the objective of checking compliance with formally stated goals. In spite of its relevance, the Brazilian public budget gives more emphasis to financial information, to the detriment of operational or strategic information. Nevertheless, the public budget does allow the observation of certain occurrences. Defense and supply are disconnected, the latter characterized as an expense element. Defense-related programs were not regarded as strategic in the multi-annual plan, in force in 2001. Moreover, in the corresponding multi-annual plan there is an apparent overlap between the activities of each branch of service, and there is no special reference to defense-related diplomatic activities or intelligence. There is also some evidence of rescheduling of the 2001 budget elements, while maintaining values within additional limitations. The most serious discrepancy is in the lack of association between diplomatic relations and the national defense function, without any evidence of budget values in the attached detailed report, despite policy and legal direction. These issues point out subjects that should be given more attention by national planning and control in Brazil.
Read more
The latest international developments require changes in the defense policies of any country. In the case of Brazil, this requirement is deeper since the National Defense Policy Document (Documento de Política de Defesa Nacional- DPDN), from 1996, does not achieve the functions of a real defense policy. In September 20th of 2001, the Brazilian Minister of Defense Geraldo Quintão spoke in favor of specific elements to a new approach for the national defense. The Minister’s pronunciation mentioned the construction of a system of rapid deployment forces (RDF) in conjunction with a regional security structure. The purpose of this paper is to offer statements in support of this new approach. The paper analyzes the differences between the Minister’s defense policy approach and the DPDN of 1996 and also analyzes the United States RDF system. The paper concludes that the Minister’s pronunciation was a real advance in relation to the DPDN in all aspects of a defense policy. It also defends that the RDF system can offer timely conceptual contributions to Brazil. The paper recommends that a Governmental strategic evaluation may be more accurate in order to provide better political parameters to the military action planning of the Brazilian armed forces. Second, just through clear military action planning and a joint command and planning structure, it may be possible to concept a force design that provide the necessary national military capacities.
Read more
This paper discusses the enrollment of women and homosexuals in the Armed Forces of South American and NATO countries. There are discrepancies in the discussion of this issue in both groups of countries. It seems to be easier for the military to deal with the enrollment of women than to accept the enrollment of homosexuals. The paper conducts a detailed analysis of the development of this issue in Brazil, because this is the country where the writer of this paper has the larger bulk of information and the one that, militarily speaking, is the most important in South America. This is a preliminary study, and some data are lacking, precisely due to the fact that there has not been a widespread academic debate on the issue at hand. However, the purpose of this paper is to encourage discussion, to disseminate previously collected information and to present a number of possible viewpoints.
Read more
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.
Read more
