Archive / Working Paper
The economy and armed forces in South America
16/02/2009 By Augusto Varas
The effects that the global financial crisis are currently having on the South American region will surely translate into strong social conflicts with important consequences for the political stability of these nations. However, the historic relationship between socio-political crises and military coups has been modified by the increasing disassociation between the armed forces and the process of state building and modernising.
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This change has also been facilitated by the incorporation of the countries in question into the process of globalisation, the new relationship between the armed forces and their respective societies, and the increasing role of multilateral bodies and international civil society in defence of democracy. In this way, crises and their impact on the state will be resolved between conflicting political and social forces, be it by means of confrontation or the social pact.
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Keywords
Civil society Democracy Latin America & CaribbeanBio author: Augusto Varas
Augusto Varas Fernández holds a Degree in Sociology from Universidad Católica de Chile and a Masters and Doctorate in Sociology from Washington University (St Louis), in the United States.
