Democratic security policy, whose original purpose is to guarantee the security of citizens and the rule of law, institutional order and the strengthening of the state, together with the guarantee of the exercise of democracy through security, has had a notable national, regional and global impact. It has placed the Colombian fight against terrorism on the international stage at many moments and several of its actions have been manifested in international scenarios. The Democratic Security Policy (DSP), implemented since 2003 by President Álvaro Uribe Vélez during his two terms in office, has become the symbol of his administration and the cornerstone of his successes. In the quest to return the country to order and bring security to the Colombian people, it has gone from being a government policy to a pillar of the Colombian State's action and has become an essential element of the Executive, to the point of being one of the common elements of continuity in the proposals of almost all the presidential candidates and of the new government, elected in June 2010.
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This paper analyzes the process of integration designed by the Presidents of the Republic of Cuba and Venezuela, based on the doctrinaire socialist ideology of the two leaders, through the Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, aimed at promoting and fomenting the progress of their respective economies and obtaining reciprocal advantages, and of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which agreement expands on and modifies the Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement. It constitutes an alliance whose purpose is to establish Latin American-Caribbean leadership through international cooperation in various sectors, and to change the correlation of international forces, establishing a multipolar world and creating a new international political order in which the interest of the people prevails. With this purpose in mind, the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean and their position as a swing vote in international decision-making, which will make them sovereign in their decisions and masters of their own fate, is being sought. In addition, substituting products from the region for products from outside countries, and the use of petroleum as a negotiating tool, is proposed.
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This analysis goes into detail on the situation and reflects on three fundamental factors. The first is an abstraction regarding the new threats, and the definition, perception and impact of such on the societies involved. The second relates to the mission that the various Latin American constitutions assign to Armed Forces and police personnel. The third and last is the model adopted by the EU, and offers a critique of the Central American Framework Treaty on Security, with two extreme poles in the focus that we have undertaken. It ends with a series of conclusions that could serve for reflection or guidelines for at last characterizing the role of Latin American Armed Forces in the fight against the new threats.
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The explicit objective of this work is to make some contributions toward assessing the current situation, and taking a look at the future, of the MERCOSUR, with regard to Defense, based on an historical-theoretical and practical development, starting from the premise that shows that the strengthening of cooperative action, with a view toward developing an integrated Defense system in the region, would be the most appropriate response to the challenges that have been posed in the field of International Security.
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The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the policy of Ad Hoc alliances or "coalitions of the willing" in the Bush administration in connection with the war on terrorism. The emergence of such represents an international-level policy designed to effectively combat the threats that disturb the global scenario as a whole, but that also generate divisions within the international community at the time that they are defined and, therefore, create dissension when it comes time to consider the best way to combat them. This paper concludes that Latin America should move toward participating and extending its participation in coalitions of the willing, due to the fact that permanent regional multilateral efforts are difficult to achieve, because of the wide scope of the existing threats and because of the increasing polarization existing in the region regarding the US
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Using an approach that the author calls "hyper-realist" and a "transformational" perspective, this work attempts to establish the 16 parameters on which Colombia's security and defense system has been built and evolved. It also attempts to partially assess its impact on the dynamics of the most conflict-troubled strategic complex in the Western Hemisphere.
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The purpose of this article is to study the threat perception process from a theoretical point of view. Using a philosophy-based, preparatory approach that provides the means for subsequent discussion, we will study the phenomenon of threat perception, prioritizing the data on the decision process formulated by political science and international relations. In this setting, threats can be perceived in different ways by the State bureaucracy because there are various factors influencing the process, including people's education, constitutional and legal systems, bureaucratic clashes and the quantity and quality of information. Consequently, the purpose of this article is to analyze the subject of threats from the classical perspective of national defense studies, but including in the debate contributions from economic and environmental studies related to the subject of international security, seeking conclusions about how much they favor the formation of defense policy and regional cooperation.
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The paper reviews the challenges of achieving a hemispheric-level consensus regarding security and defense. The authors detect two main difficulties: (a) the importance awarded by the different countries to their national security as a priority, and (b) the preeminence of the global security designs. In 2002 and 2003, the OAS discussed the notion of "Hemispheric Security." The 34 countries forming the organization drafted the "Declaration of Security in the Americas" as a result of Mexico's conference on October 27-28, 2003. Two notions of security were discussed during the negotiations: one of them mostly related to social, economic and governability problems, supported by many Caribbean and Latin American governments, called "multidimensional security;" and the other notion confined to issues such a cooperation against terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and the so-called "emerging threats," supported mainly by the United States. In addition, countries such as Canada have developed notions such as "human security." These problems result in a complex security and defense agenda, or a North-South agenda: the North worried about the new threats led by terrorism and the South concerned about development problems. Finally, the article reviews Mexico's contradictory position, trying to state its foreign policy principles in the hemispheric security debate, while being part of North America, and therefore, a neighbor of the United States.
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The purpose of this paper is, first, to seek an answer for the question about what has been left behind in hemispheric security, given that the 21st Century has started with changes to the traditional security concepts developed during the previous century, and specifically any other concepts that are typical of the Post Second World War and Cold War eras. Secondly, to review the continent’s security scenario, and describe any causes for lack of security, based on the source and the way they are perceived by the different actors. This review shows that Latin Americans basically want a security system that provides them with Human and Individual Security, mainly through instruments and agencies, other than the Armed Forces, with capabilities to cover all other levels where security manifests itself, such as: Government Security and International Security, where the Armed Forces play a prominent role. Lastly, in order to seek a solution to meet the above requirements, the basics for a model is proposed, so that it may efficiently allow neutralizing any causes for lack of security by minimizing any sovereignty loss threats due to third-party interventionism, and based on existing instrument revitalization, aimed at adopting a flexible architecture supported by bilateral and multilateral relations designed to secure sub-regional and hemispheric agreements.
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This article provides a general introduction for the so-called intelligence activities. Intelligence means the collection, analysis and dissemination of information needed by policy makers and decision takers. But it does not include all kinds of information or data in general, since intelligence is part of a conflict dealing with denial of knowledge and secrets. The unique methods, procedures, technologies and techniques of intelligence make it more relevant in some fields than others. National defense, foreign policy and law enforcement are the main users of intelligence. The article also addresses the tensions between intelligence and democracy and the expected impacts of the intelligence in peace and war.
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