Abstract:
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.