Strategic Insights, Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2003. Colombia: Conflict and Civil-Military Relations

Abstract

One year after the formal end of the failed peace process which had been initiated by President Andres Pastrana in 1998, it is possible to "take stock" of the situation of conflict in Colombia and the prospects for the future. The government of President Alvaro Uribe, who took office on August 7, 2002, is seeking to end the conflict by fighting the terrorists to force them to negotiate. To reach this point required serious modifications in domestic and international politics. Pursuing this strategy will require ongoing changes in domestic politics, including in Colombian civil-military relations. Violence and War on Many Fronts While terrorism is clearly the greatest threat to Colombia, it is but the most serious manifestation of a general situation of violence, social and economic deterioration, and absence of the state in much of the country. Before citing some of the gory data, let me put a personal touch to this reality. The author participated with other Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR) colleagues in a seminar in October 2002 on the topic of national security and military strategy which was held at the Tequendama Hotel in downtown Bogota. In December the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) exploded two bombs at this hotel, but luckily with relatively modest results. The author, again with a CCMR team, while participating in a conference on the topic of national security in July 2002, went to dinner at the El Nogal club in Bogota. On 7 February, the day after the author departed from Bogota on the most recent CCMR trip, FARC set off a car bomb in the club's garage that killed 32 and injured 168. These relatively close brushes with terrorism are not exceptional; CCMR is not constituted of thrill seekers. It is just the way it is in Colombia today it should be noted that Bogota is safer than most other Colombian cities, let alone the rural areas.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA485199

Entities

People

  • Thomas C. Bruneau

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Colombia
  • Counterterrorism
  • Criminals
  • Governments
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • Law
  • Military Strategy
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • Police
  • Security
  • Societies
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • Violence

Readers

  • Academic Conference Management
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.