Latin American Security

Research - Policy Themes

Research - Regional Security

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For further information on the Latin American Security Programme, please contact the Director of Studies' Office.

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Latin American Security

IISS work on Latin American Security has focused in particular on dimensions of the Colombian conflict. While retaining some emphasis here, and on associated issues such as the production and trafficking of illegal narcotics, the IISS is now building a regional security programme of hemispheric scope to reflect the full spectrum of security challenges faced by the region and the solutions that its constituent countries are seeking to evolve in response. The programme will also analyse the more prominent role that some regional powers are striving to perform on the wider international stage; as well as the increasing interest of outside powers such as China and India in the affairs of Latin America.

The Farc Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of ‘Raúl Reyes’

This Strategic Dossier provides unique insights into the thinking and evolution of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It is based on a study of the computer disks belonging to Luis Edgar Devía Silva (aka Raúl Reyes), head of FARC’s International Committee (COMINTER), that were seized by Colombian armed forces in a raid in March 2008 on Devía’s camp inside Ecuador. Read More

The dossier is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing all relevant e-mails unedited and in the original Spanish in a searchable, chronological format.

The dossier will be launched on 10 May 2011. It is available to pre-order and copies will be dispatched after the launch.

Military Balance 2011

The Military Balance 2011 contains region-by-region analysis of the major military and economic developments affecting defence and security policies and the trade in weapons and other military equipment. Comprehensive tables detail major military training activities, UN and non-UN deployments, and give data on key equipment holdings and defence economics, as well as defence-expenditure trends over a ten-year period.

The Latin American section includes a discussion on how Brazil’s national defence strategy is affecting its army and navy, as well as a map of its new military districts. Read More

Buy The Miltary Balance 2011