Latin American militaries are today in many regards inoperative and obsolete as an instrument of defence. Yet, they seek to maintain their organisational power and privileges. Governments, on the other hand, lack the adequate means to fight criminality, persisting poverty and social inequality. In an apparent win-win situation, Latin American governments have used the military as a wildcard to step in where civilian state capacity falls short, including for urban and border patrols, literacy campaigns and to collect garbage, among many other tasks. The military's manifold internal use has been defended mainly based on pragmatic reasons. We argue instead that the ostensive pareto optimality between militaries and governments has had negative effects for civil-military relations from a democratic governance point of view that takes into consideration the efficiency and effectiveness of how the state delivers basic services across different policy areas.

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Experiencias de la participación militar española en misiones internacionales: el caso de los oficiales del Ejército de Tierra (1993-2015 Experiences ResumenEl presente estudio aborda las experiencias de los oficiales del Ejército de Tierra español en 175 misiones militares internacionales con características de conflictos o guerras asimétricas entre los años 1993 y 2015. Concretamente el trabajo se basa en el análisis de cincuenta entrevistas semiestructuradas. A tal fin, hemos sistematizado estas experiencias en una serie de variables que sirven para identificar dichos conflictos: (i) procedimientos; (ii) limitaciones, y (iii) actores.De dichas variables hemos analizado concretamente los siguientes indicadores que constituyen los resultados de la investigación: en el apartado de los procedimientos hemos prestado atención a la capacitación y formación específica, la autonomía en la toma de decisiones, la formación de las unidades y el estilo de mando. Dentro de las limitaciones se han analizado las reglas

Present changes in the world political system are obliging reconsideration of the functionality of armies, failing which they could take on roles that will end up in their obsolescence or uselessness. This critical point leads to a debate in which three arguments converge: the abolitionist, which could be regarded as ingenuous; the adaptive, which adopts the logic of the three Rs (redefine, resize, and reconvert); and the pragmatic, which ends up justifying multifunctionality of the armed forces. Multifunctionality of armies implies militarisation or, in other words, normalisation of the use of the military —or extension of the use of force— in the provision of services outside their traditional roles. In the worst case, this can lead to militarism. However, multifunctionality can also be achieved without having the use of force as a goal but, rather, an attempt to benefit society by means of the military’s status as a catch-all administration. This approach aims at tempering the military mindset, when its members are not expected to use force in the various tasks they are entrusted with.

El final de la Guerra Fría, y el ‘desorden’ del sistema político internacional que ello comportó, fomentó la aparición de actores internacionales no estatales –transnacionales-que han modificado la tipología de las amenazas y los riesgos. Ello ha traído consigo un replanteamiento de la seguridad de los Estados. Ese nuevo escenario y retos hacen necesario actuar de manera integral y multilateral; al mismo tiempo que exige unaactuación más preventiva y proactiva para lo cual las Estrategias Nacionales de Seguridad resultan herramientas clave.