The rise and fall of the Argentine military industrial complex: Implications for civil-military relations
Description
This study explores the implications of the rise and fall of the Argentine military industrial complex on future civil-military relations. An investigation of the nationalist and military objective to attain self-sufficiency in defense-related industries begs the questions of whether concerns over dependency, on international sources of arms, internal enemies, regional rivalries, and periodic foreign policy tensions with the United States have been quelled permanently. If neoliberal policies in Argentina fail to provide a permanent model for development and Argentina sees a resurgence of nationalist-statist leaders, where will the wave of privatizations the military has experienced leave the nation and its leaders' aspirations to become a great power? On numerous past occasions the military has stepped in by force, with the support of key social sectors, to govern in the face of discontent and to defend its corporate interests. Within the new rubric of civil-military relations, where will party leaders and entrepreneurial groups who have often appealed to the military for help in removing their enemies from power turn? Will the armed forces' fear of diminished military might ring true? Or will a new military mission serve to curb their predisposition to enter politics? This work argues that prospects for the military's institutional incorporation into the state are currently better than in any period in Argentina's recent past. While military prerogatives have been reduced to a point that historically might have posed a dramatic threat to democracy, military contestation has remained relatively low. After years of slow but steady downsizing propelled by civilian leaders, it appears unlikely that the Argentine military retains the armed capacity and industrial muscle to resume its tradition of chronic interventionism. The changing international context has served to reinforce this new paradigm of subordination to civilian leadership for the Argentine military