Focus on U.S. Southern Command

3rd Quarter issue of Joint Force Quarterly:

Focus on U.S. Southern Command: Executive Summary

The Americas in the 21st Century: The Challege of Governance and Security by John Craddock and Barbara R. Fick.

Limits of Influence: Creating Security Forces in Latin America by Richard L. Millett.

A Prescription for Protecting the Southern Approach by John A. Cope.

The State Partnership Program: Vision to Reality by Pablo Pagan.

JIATF - South: Blueprint for Success by Richard M. Yeatman.

JTF - Bravo and Disaster Relief by Edmund Woolfolk and James Marshall.

19 October Miami Herald - Southcom Chief Stresses Ideas, Not Missiles by Carol Rosenberg.

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Even before Adm. James G. Stavridis takes charge of U.S. military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean this morning, the new Southern Command chief has been making plans for travel and engagement in what he sees as a battle of ideas, not missiles and bombs, in the Western Hemisphere.

In a wide-ranging interview prior to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's arrival in town to pin a fourth star on his senior aide, the veteran Navy officer said:

• There is still some wiggle room for a military relationship with Venezuela, despite chilled relations with President Hugo Chávez.

• He is going to keep watch on the Guantánamo Bay detention center for terrorist suspects to make sure it's run in ``a legal and transparent fashion.''

• He's also watching Fidel and Raúl Castro's side of Cuba for a potential U.S. military humanitarian role in any future rafter crisis.

• He is not overly concerned by Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere...

With no U.S. forces shooting in the hemisphere and a patchwork of security agreements and drug interdiction operations, the job of Southcom chief has long been quasi-diplomatic -- a uniformed U.S. envoy promoting democracy in the at-times troubled nations of Latin America and the Caribbean....

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0703/p...mi.html?page=1

Miami - James Stavridis had a decision to make: fire a missile at an Iranian aircraft flying ever closer to his Aegis cruiser in the Arabian Gulf, or wait to see what the pilot would do. The young lieutenant commander, the tactical action officer on board, held both his fire and his breath. When the plane peeled off of its own accord, he sighed in relief and knew he'd made the right choice.

That was more than 20 years ago, during the "tanker war" between Iran and Iraq. But the experience has stayed with Mr. Stavridis, now a four-star admiral in charge of US Southern Command, as a reminder that the conventional militaristic approach isn't always the best course.

"The incident comes back to me at times because it tells you that, in the world we live in, it's good to hold back on the key sometimes," says Stavridis, during a recent interview here.

SSI, 4 Oct 07: American Grand Strategy for Latin America in an Age of Resentment

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....Today the challenge to the security and well-being of Latin America is neither ideological, nor military, nor external. Strategic denial is more likely to come about from a highly combustible blend of poverty, crime, despair, corruption, resentment, and antidemocratic sentiments that promise a vague 21st century socialism under new authoritarian clothing. The sentiments are sinking deep roots in the sociopolitical landscape, and they are profoundly anti-American.

This witch’s brew is presently best understood in the case of the Andean countries, particularly Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. They, along with Peru, are experiencing a crisis of democratic legitimacy, authority, and governance. The crisis in the Andean countries applies to much of Latin America.

The problem is compounded by the prevalence of weak state systems that are incapable of providing security, justice, and the benefits of democratic governance to the maximum number of people. The roots of the weak state syndrome are to be found in the persisting dualism of the formal state populated by the “haves” and the informal state populated by the “have nots.” The two states are socio-spatially separated from each other. The 40 percent of the population that inhabits the informal state must be productively integrated into the formal state and into the global economy, or Latin America will continue to face crises of authority, governance, and legitimacy....

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CFR, May 08: U.S.-Latin America Relations: A New Direction for a New Reality

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Latin America has never mattered more for the United States. The region is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the United States and a strong partner in the development of alternative fuels. It is the United States’ fastest-growing trading partner, as well as its biggest supplier of illegal drugs. Latin America is also the largest source of U.S. immigrants, both documented and not. All of this reinforces deep U.S. ties with the region—strategic, economic, and cultural—but also deep concerns.

The report makes clear that the era of the United States as the dominant influence in Latin America is over. Countries in the region have not only grown stronger but have expanded relations with others, including China and India. U.S. attention has also focused elsewhere in recent years, particularly on challenges in the Middle East. The result is a region shaping its future far more than it shaped its past. At the same time Latin America has made substantial progress, it also faces ongoing challenges. Democracy has spread, economies have opened, and populations have grown more mobile. But many countries have struggled to reduce poverty and inequality and to provide for public security.

The Council on Foreign Relations established an Independent Task Force to take stock of these changes and assess their consequences for U.S. policy toward Latin America. The Task Force finds that the long-standing focus on trade, democracy, and drugs, while still relevant, is inadequate. The Task Force recommends reframing policy around four critical areas—poverty and inequality, public security, migration, and energy security—that are of immediate concern to Latin America’s governments and citizens.

The Task Force urges that U.S. efforts to address these challenges be done in coordination with multilateral institutions, civil society organizations, governments, and local leaders. By focusing on areas of mutual concern, the United States and Latin American countries can develop a partnership that supports regional initiatives and the countries’ own progress. Such a partnership would also promote U.S. objectives of fostering stability, prosperity, and democracy throughout the hemisphere.

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Complete 103 page paper at the link.