Latin American Leadership in Hemispheric Security Latin America: Does it have a common approach? Security: Is there a common perception? Leadership: Objective Conditions Acceptance – Desire to Volunteer Conclusions

Latin America Cultural Community not homogenous. Common Values. Political Diversity. Diverse Security Situations. Different evaluation of threats and risks. Does not act with Political Unity. Sub-regions – A Reality (Politico-Economic and, in certain cases, of Security?) South American Union – A Desire (Political (Economic)

Dimension of the Concept Security Dimension of the Concept Traditional Threats Non-Traditional Threats Risks and other problems Difficulty of concensus. Suspicion of “securitizing” risks. Fear of interventions and outside influence. Lack of confidence due to “Asymmetries”. Imbalance of military power. Different Roles of Armed Forces/Security Forces. A “Crisis” harmonizes definitions of security. Poverty Sickness Democratic Instability

Some Characteristics: Leadership Of a country, or of a group of countries. Are there conditions? Cline Pp= (C+E+M) x (S+W) World wide examples. Some Characteristics: Capacity for aciton – Resources to sustain action. Credibility – Confidence betweeen peers. Political Will to lead (Polítical Support). Acceptance of cost – Responsibility. Competent and Respected Leaders. Take Opportunities – Strategic Vision. Access to the World Wide Community – Respect. Peace – Difficult to accept the need forsecurity leadership. Crisis and Fear = Easier to accept leadership.

Are there countries with capacity/desire? Conclusions Are there countries with capacity/desire? There are not many conditions which stimluate security leadership. Are there countries which have a desire to lead but lack capacity? In lieu of leadership, alternatives appear such as the articulation of compromises and cooperation.

Appearance of a crisis accelerates the process. Conclusions Cooperation is easier in the Sub-region where there is less resistance to leadership. Cooperation leads to recognition of asymmetries and respect for the dignity, and sovereignty of neighboring countries. Appearance of a crisis accelerates the process. Cooperative Action: Early Warning – Stand By Forces and PKO, are currently the easiest to perform. There are other political-military options.