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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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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The article discusses the concept of national security and the problems generated by the political tensions between individual security and state security in the contemporary world. Even recognizing that the modern state is simultaneously a source of threats as well as a source of security to individuals, it seems that the very nature of the international system and national societies renders collective security incompatible with individual welfare. This requires us to live as best as we can with the inherent tensions of the concept of national security. To demonstrate that these tensions are real political problems and not just semantics, the article analyses the liberal tendency?based on legal positivism?to legally define situations in which governments could allege reasons of national security, as well as more recent tendencies to substitute the concept of national security with the notion of individual security. In conclusion, I provisionally adopt the perspective of the "theory of security complexes" as an alternative to the authoritarian, liberal and post-modern positions in the analysis of security matters.
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