Safety and defense in the Southern Cone: transitions and transformations?

Abstract

The new conditions of international security don’t only attach importance to sovereignty and interstate relations. This new framework has led to changes in the scope and requirements for Politics of Defense. Countries of the Southern Cone seek to establish new parameters in the definition of their policies, but need to define between dissuasive policies as in the past, or establish mechanisms for cooperation with their neighbors. Furthermore, these policies, by their nature and size, are not exclusively military. The purpose of this article is to examine thedefinitions constraints on strategic deterrence and cooperation in international security, and identify the degree of autonomy and the nature of the concepts derived from the armed forces in shaping Politics of Defense. Finally, we try to check the level of civil policy direction in defining those policies.