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Academically rigorous... the specialized work belongs in college and university libraries with significant holdings in comparative politics and Latin American studies.
Jaskoski’s extraordinary field work and primary sources make this book unlike any work in Latin American civil-military relations in the past thirty years. It is an empirical tour-de-force.
This is an important book for students of Latin America and for those of the military in general. For the first, it opens the black box of the military as an institution in an unprecedented way. We come to understand the military not as a political actor but as an organizational one. For military-oriented scholars, it provides a fascinating perspective on why soldiers might end up doing little of their supposed main missions and opt for organizational predictability rather than for effective performance. Anyone interested in post-conflict transitions or state capacity should read it.
All too often, analysts of Latin America pay insufficient attention to the region’s armed forces unless democracy itself is at immediate risk. This well-researched book represents a significant and welcome exception to this tendency. In an instructive and novel comparison, Jaskoski investigates the factors that shape the military’s mission performance in Peru and Ecuador. Her analysis serves as a powerful reminder of why the study of the armed forces remains crucial in the contemporary period.
About
Book Details
Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x 9
Pages
322
ISBN
9781421409078
Illustration Description
6 b&w illus., 2 maps
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Acronyms and Abbreviations
1. Military Mission Performance in Latin America
Challenges to Security and Democratic Civil-Military Relations in the Andes
Explaining Military Mission
Acknowledgments
Acronyms and Abbreviations
1. Military Mission Performance in Latin America
Challenges to Security and Democratic Civil-Military Relations in the Andes
Explaining Military Mission Performance in Democratic Latin America
Case Selection: A Focus on the Army in Peru and Ecuador
The Data
Overview of the Analysis
2. Civil-Military Relations in Democratic Peru and Ecuador
High Constraints on Peru's Military
Low Constraints on Ecuador's Military
3. Army Mission Performance in Post-Transition Peru and Ecuador, 1980s–1990s
Sovereignty before Policing
Deviations: Contradictions in Missions and Sovereignty Neglect
Alternative Explanations
4. Mission Constraint and Neglect of Counterinsurgency: Peru since 2000
Staying in the Barracks
Insecurity in Sendero Zones
Predictions of the Legitimacy, Professionalism, and Resource Maximization Hypotheses
Army Inaction
Restrictions on Army Autonomy
Contradiction through Mission Constraint
The Source of the Senior Cohort's "Need" for Autonomy
Neglect of Counterinsurgency as a Way to Maintain Predictability for Patrols
Return to Assertive Counterinsurgency
Narrow Mission Beliefs and Minimal Police Work
5. Mission Overload and Neglect of Border Defense: Ecuador since 2000
Neglecting a Porous Border while Policing the Interior
Insecurity in Northern Ecuador
Predictions of the Legitimacy, Professionalism, and Resource Maximization Hypotheses
Assertive Policing
Overwhelming Security Responsibilities
Policing to Avoid Obsolescence
Contradiction through Mission Overload
Managing the Contradiction
The Contradiction Escalates
Alternative Explanations: Revisiting Legitimacy
6. Battalions for Hire: Private Army Contracts in Peru and Ecuador
Resource-Hungry Army Units
Local Client Influence
Limits to Client Influence
7. Comparative Perspectives on Military Mission Performance
Colombia: Tolerance of Policing amid Ongoing Insurgency
Venezuela: Mission Loss, Organizational Trauma, and Rejection of Police Work
Bolivia: Policing despite Organizational Trauma
Extreme Executive Control: Trends in Venezuela and Bolivia
Reflections on Assigning Militaries to Conduct Police Work
Appendix: Field Research Methodology
Notes
References
Index
Resources
