Plan Colombia and the Mérida Initiative represented an unprecedented effort by Washington to stabilize fragile democracies in Latin America by shoring up the Colombian and Mexican security forces, respectively. From Peril to Partnership evaluates the extent to which the US government achieved its stabilization objectives. US assistance was more helpful to Colombia than Mexico, which adopted a more militarized approach. This book highlights the importance of the private sector, party system, and security bureaucracy in facilitating progress-and how their absence obstructs it.
Author(s): Paul J. Angelo
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2024
Language: English
Pages: 441
City: Oxford
Cover
From Peril to Partnership
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Forged under Fire: US Partnership with Colombia and Mexico
1. The Security Sector in Latin America: Comparing US Security Assistance to Colombia and Mexico
2. The Origins of Plan Colombia and the Mérida Initiative
3. Structuring Security Assistance in Colombia and Mexico
4. Evaluating Security Sector Reform in Colombia and Mexico
5. Bringing in Big Business: The Role of the Private Sector
6. Finding Common Ground: Interparty Relations and Continuity in Security Sector Reform
7. Building a Monopoly of Force: The Effect of Security Sector Centralization on Security Sector Reform
8. Sustaining Progress: A Retrospective of Plan Colombia and the Mérida Initiative
Conclusion: Security Assistance and Local Preferences and Power Relations
Appendix
Bibliography
Reading Bibliography
Index
