Synopsis
This monograph stems from the tactical and op¬erational frustrations of the U.S. So thern Command (USSOUTHCOM) regarding citizen and collective security in the Western Hemisphere. These frustra¬tions have been demonstrated in each of the annual colloquia that the Strategic Studies Institute and its partners, Florida International University, the Na tional Defense University, and USSOUTHCOM have conducted over the past 8 years. This monograph also reflects similar frustrations expressed by other U.S. Government organizations and agencies, as well as by various hemispheric governments and security insti¬tutions. The urgency and importance of the security is¬sue have generated four related themes. First, sev¬eral countries in Latin America are paradigms of the failing state and have enormous implications for the stability, development, democracy, prosperity, and peace of the entire Western Hemisphere. Second, the transnational drug and arms trafficking, paramilitary, insurgent, and gang organizations in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Basin are per¬petrating a level of corruption, criminality, human horror, and internal instability that—if left unchecked at the strategic level—can ultimately threaten the col¬lapse of various states and undermine the security and sovereignty of neighbors. Third, poverty, social exclusion, environmental degradation, and political-economic-social expectations—and the conflicts gen¬erated by these indirect and implicit threats to stability and human well-being—lead to further degeneration of citizen security. Fourth, thesethreats constitute a serious challenge to U.S. national security, well-being, and position in the global community. Unfortunately, a strategic-level debate has largely been absent from all this discourse. The reality and severity of the threats associated with transnational security issues indicate that the United States and its national and international part¬ners need a new paradigm for the conduct of contem¬porary warfare and an accompanying new paradigm for strategic leader development. The strategic-level basis of these new paradigms can be found in the fact that the global community is redefining secu¬rity in terms of nothing less than a reconceptualiza¬tion of sovereignty. In the past, sovereignty was the acknowledged and/or real control of territory and the people in it. Now, sovereignty is the responsibil¬ity of governments to protect the well-being of their peoples and to prevent great harm to those peoples. The security dilemma has now become: Why, when, and how to intervene to protect people and prevent egregious human suffering? Thus, we address some of the strategic-level questions and recommendations that arise from this elaboration. We will probably gen¬erate more questions than answers, but it is time to begin the strategic-level discussion. This monograph comes at a critical juncture—a time of promise for globalization, creating a world that has become increasingly interconnected and a positive force for good government, human rights, the environment, peace, and prosperity. At the same time, there is profound concern that the fragmentation associated with globalization is acting as a negative force—leading people everywhere to seek refuge in smaller groups, characterized by isolationism, separat¬ism, fanaticism, and deteriorating citizen security and well-being. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to offer this monograph as part of a continuing effort to inform the security debate, move it to a higher level, and support the best interests of the governments and peoples of the Western Hemisphere and the rest of the world.
Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHORMAX G. MANWARING is a Professor of Military Strategy in the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) of the U.S. Army War College (USAWC), has held the General Douglas MacArthur Chair of Research at theUSAWC, and is a retired U.S. Army colonel. He has served in various civilian and military positions, including the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), the Defense Intelligence Agency, Dickinson College, and Memphis University. Dr. Manwaring is the author and co-author of several articles, chapters, and books dealing with Latin American security affairs, political-military affairs, and insurgency and counter-insurgency. His most recent book is The Complexity of Modern Irregular War (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, forthcoming). His most recent article is “Three Lessons from Contemporary Challenges to Security,” in PRISM, Vol. 2, No. 3 (June 2011). His most recent SSI monograph is The Strategic Logic of the Contemporary Security Dilemma (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, forthcoming). Dr. Manwaring is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, and holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in political science from the University ofIllinois.
Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.
