Böcker av Augusto Varas

Military conflicts and dictatorships in Latin America are the main consequences of the increasingly autonomous role of the armed forces in the region, asserts noted scholar Augusto Varas, and international factors related to the expansion of weapon industries in the North and the increasing flow of financial resources to Latin America are accelerating the arms race. Varas discusses the historical function of the armed forces in local politics, the new ideology of the "national security doctrine," and the process of conflict perception by the Latin American military. He also analyzes the inevitable relations between the arms race and the political role of the region's armed institutions. Using Chile as an example, he places these factors in context and illustrates how political crisis can escalate into a regional arms race. He then concludes with a discussion of the links between prospects for democracy in the region and demilitarization and disarmament.

Military conflicts and dictatorships in Latin America are the main consequences of the increasingly autonomous role of the armed forces in the region, asserts noted scholar Augusto Varas.

A comprehensive examination of both unresolved tensions in inter-American relations and the specific problems facing U.S. and Latin American policymakers in the 1990s.--American Political Science Review "e;These well-integrated essays analyze the key issues in contemporary inter-American relations very clearly. The authors address their themes with subtlety and insight, in this first overall assessment of North-South relations in the Western Hemisphere during the post-Cold War period.--Christopher Mitchell, New York University "e;A superb contribution. . . . At a time when U.S.-Latin American relations face a critical turning point, policymakers would benefit from a careful reading of this fine book.--Eduardo A. Gamarra, Florida International University