SUSTAINABILITY OF COLOMBIAN MILITARY/STRATEGIC SUPPORT FOR “DEMOCRATIC SECURITY”

A sea-change has occurred in troubled Colombia, as detailed in this monograph. For the first time in 40 years, cautious optimism pervades discussions of Bogota’s seemingly intractable situation. Drugs, terrorism, and insurgency continue in their explosive mix, but the current government of President Alvaro Uribe has fashioned a counterinsurgency approach that holds the strategic initiative and has a chance of negating a long-standing security threat to the state. This is critical if Colombian democratic and economic advances are to continue. Colombia has become synonymous in the popular mind with an intractable war waged against narco-terrorists. Not as understood is the strategic setting, wherein the illegal drug trade is not just linked to terrorism but rather is an integral part of a leftwing insurgency that continues to talk the language of the Cold War. This insurgency is the greatest threat to Bogota and to Washington’s interests in the region. Thus it is of particular moment to see an indigenously generated response succeed in turning the tide. What has been particularly remarkable has been a military reform movement engineered by Colombian officers committed to strengthening military professionalism and accountability to civilian authority. Washington has played a crucial but supporting role in the process, working closely with what many are beginning to call a model in dealing with the complexities of state integration, development, and internal security. Built upon the common sense notion that none of these are possible without personal security, there is much that bears examination in the Colombian approach.