State-building, war and violence : evidence from Latin America

In European history, war has played a major role in state‐building and the state monopoly on violence. But war is a very specific form of organized political violence, and it is decreasing on a global scale. Other patterns of armed violence now dominate, ones that seem to undermine state‐building, thus preventing the replication of European experiences. As a consequence, the main focus of the current state‐building debate is on fragility and a lack of violence control inside these states. Evidence from Latin American history shows that the specific patterns of the termination of both war and violence are more important than the specific patterns of their organization. Hence these patterns can be conceptualized as a critical juncture for state‐building. While military victories in war, the subordination of competing armed actors and the prosecution of perpetrators are conducive for state‐building, negotiated settlements, coexistence, and impunity produce instability due to competing patterns of authority, legitimacy, and social cohesion

Herencias del Imperialismo. Análisis de la Postguerra Fría

Este ensayo cuestiona el etnocentrismo que han permeado los análisis en la posguerra fría, sobre la naturaleza y fundamentos del orden internacional, especialmente de los conflictos armados en las llamadas periferias . Estos análisis sugieren que existe una dicotomía espacial entre centro y periferia, y una sociológica entre área de paz y áreas de caos y anarquía. Se propone y sustenta un enfoque alternativo que rescate los antecedentes históricos y problemas estructurales que permitan una mejor comprensión de las dificultades y dilemas que enfrenta el llamado Tercer Mundo y su papel en el orden mundial