Security Community or Balance of Power? Hybrid Security Governance in Latin America

Abstract

This chapter argues that the Latin American region shows a paradoxical coexistence of two mechanisms of regional security governance, balance of power, and security communities, which are characterized by different approaches to conflict resolution and ways of conceiving power. These mechanisms overlap: while most military institutions in the region continue to adhere to the concepts and practices of balance of power, other institutions such the foreign policy bureaucracies have internalized discourses and practices of security community. This chapter introduces the idea of overlapping mechanisms of balance of power and security community and presents empirical evidence for both mechanisms in concrete historical practices among Latin American states. Furthermore, it explores the main causal mechanisms that could explain the hybrid pattern of security governance.