Overview
- Casts new light on how militaries in Latin America contribute to non-war missions
- Presents revealing case studies of Latin American military involvement in internal security, disaster relief, and social programs
- Offers a studied argument for how governments should pragmatically assess and use military forces to address problems
Part of the book series: Politics, Economics, and Inclusive Development (POEID)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book demonstrates through country case studies that, contrary to received wisdom, Latin American militaries can contribute productively, but under select conditions, to non-traditional missions of internal security, disaster relief, and social programs. Latin American soldiers are rarely at war, but have been called upon to perform these missions in both lethal and non-lethal ways. Is this beneficial to their societies or should the armed forces be left in the barracks? As inherently conservative institutions, they are at their best, the author demonstrates, when tasked with missions that draw on pre-existing organizational strengths that can be utilized in appropriate and humane ways. They are at a disadvantage when forced to reinvent themselves. Ultimately, it is governments that must choose whether or not to deploy soldiers, and they should do so, based on a pragmatic assessment of the severity and urgency of the problem, the capacity of the military to effectively respond,and the availability of alternative solutions.
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Authors and Affiliations
About the author
David Pion-Berlin is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Riverside, USA. He is a Latin Americanist whose numerous books and articles have focused on civil-military relations, defense, security, and human rights.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Military Missions in Democratic Latin America
Authors: David Pion-Berlin
Series Title: Politics, Economics, and Inclusive Development
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59270-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Nature America, Inc., part of Springer Nature 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-59269-9Published: 02 June 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-95361-5Published: 14 March 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-59270-5Published: 01 June 2016
Series ISSN: 2945-6436
Series E-ISSN: 2945-6444
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 218
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations
Topics: Latin American Politics, Military and Defence Studies, Development Economics, Comparative Politics, Public Policy, Public Administration