Book Description

As this country's leadership focuses on homeland security, it is important that we look to our own Western Hemisphere. Terrorism does not solely originate in the Middle East. Colombia's multifaceted conflicts are by no means confined to that country, a fact long appreciated by civilian and military strategists who are engaged in the search for solutions there. Professor Richard L. Millett documents succinctly in this monograph how the spillover from Colombia affects each of the five countries on its border (Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Brazil), as well as those somewhat more distant (Bolivia, Paraguay, and the Caribbean states). When the U.S. Army War College and the North-South Center organized a second conference on Colombia early in 2002, a primary objective was to analyze Colombia as an "exporter of insecurity" (a phrase of Juan Gabriel Tokatlián's)-now amatter of serious hemispheric concern. Colombia cannot be ignored or minimized, as it tends to be in the highest-level inter-American deliberations. If any of the broad, ambitious hemispheric projects, such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), are to succeed, a common concern must be held for Colombia's conflicts. They will get in the way of the FTAA whether the trade negotiators realize it or not. It is not just a question of extraterritorial armed combat across borders by Colombia's guerrilla groups, the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) and the rightist Auto Defensas Unificados de Colombia (AUC), classified by Washington as "terrorists" and known also to be into drug trafficking. The growth of criminal organizations associated with the drug trade, the flow of refugees from Colombia, and the undermining of the national defense forces of all of Colombia's neighbors are the result of the spillover. Millett reminds us that there is no purely military solution to the Colombian conflict. He also points out, however, that there is no solution without a meaningful military component. The stakes are huge in terms of the sustainability of democratic governance and of regional stability in a large portion of the hemisphere. Despite the large sums appropriated by the United States toward Plan Colombia, no one, including Millett, has suggested that the trendline has yet turned positive. Although it seems difficult for the United States to give concentrated attention beyond the Middle East, security in the Western Hemisphere needs new focus, given present circumstances. In view of the vital importance of the spillover effects of the Colombia conflict on U.S. political, economic, and security interests, the North-South Center intends to devote a greater share of its resources to this issue. Through commissioned papers, policy briefings, and educational outreach activities, the Center will address spillover effects in key areas such as economic growth, political stability, migration, regional economic integration, and the future of hemispheric security institutions.