In all democratic systems, intelligence reform is a "Gordian knot" that
incessantly tests decisionmakers. The onus is on them to develop and
maintain intelligence systems that protect democracy and are
democratically accountable, while, at the same time, engage in secret
operations. This challenge has no clear solution. As experts at the Geneva
Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) put it, "the
nature of intelligence is such that the balance between secrecy and
democracy will always be a delicate one to strike."1 In well-established
democracies, policymakers have developed mechanisms to tackle the
"democracy–intelligence" dilemma, yet these mechanisms are relentlessly
being revised and reworked. In new democracies, however, decisionmakers
must create these mechanisms from ground zero, and do not always
succeed in balancing effectiveness with transparency. In those that do
succeed, decisionmakers face numerous challenges, yet they may, after long
and protracted endeavors, eventually manage to accommodate effectiveness
and transparency. Both interest and willingness (whether self-initiated or
due to outside pressure and=or incentives) on the part of policymakers are
paramount in successful intelligence reform.
Here we analyze the experiences of seven developing democracies: Brazil,
Argentina, Peru, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Russia.2 In all but one,
policymakers have succeeded in institutionalizing intelligence agencies that
are either transparent or effective, or both. In stark contrast, in the
seventh country, Russia, policymakers have not been interested in
democratic consolidation, and while they invested in intelligence reform,
they did so for personal gain, not for reasons of democratic consolidation.
By Thomas Bruneau, Lucía Dammert, and Elizabeth Skinner
Sensational headlines have publicized the drug trafficking, brutal violence, and other organized crime
elements associated with Central America's mara gangs, but there have been few clear-eyed analyses of the
history, hierarchies, and future of the maraphenomenon. The first book to look specifically at the Central
American gang problem by drawing on the perspectives of researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds,
Maras: Gang Violence and Security in Central America provides much-needed insight.
These essays trace the development of the gangs, from Mara Salvatrucha to the 18th Street Gang, in Los Angeles
and their spread to El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua as the result of members' deportation to Central America;
there, they account for high homicide rates and threaten the democratic stability of the region. With expertise in areas
ranging from political science to law enforcement and human rights, the contributors also explore the spread of mara violence
in the United States. Their findings comprise a complete documentation that spans sexualized violence, case studies
of individual gangs, economic factors, varied responses to gang violence, the use of intelligence gathering, the limits
of state power, and the role of policy makers.
Raising crucial questions for a wide readership, these essays are sure to spark productive international dialogues.
"Long overdue. . . . This book promises to set a new standard for research analysis
of the mara issue with a goal of contributing to more enlightened and innovative policy."
— Donna DeCesare, Associate Professor of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin
Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction (Thomas Bruneau)
• Part I. Case Studies
-- Chapter 1. The Origins of Southern California Latino Gangs (Al Valdez)
-- Chapter 2. Street Gangs of El Salvador (Sonja Wolf)
-- Chapter 3. Street Gangs of Guatemala (Elin Cecilie Ranum)
-- Chapter 4. Street Gangs of Honduras (Joanna Mateo)
-- Chapter 5. Street Gangs of Nicaragua (José Luis Rocha (translated from the Spanish by Michael Solis))
• Part II. Responses to Gang Violence
-- Chapter 6. State Power and Central American Maras: A Cross-national Comparison (Enrique Desmond Arias)
-- Chapter 7. Government Responses and the Dark Side of Gang Suppression in Central America (José Miguel Cruz)
-- Chapter 8. Elite Membership and Sexualized Violence among Central American Gangs (Mauricio Rubio
(translated from the Spanish by Michael Solis))
-- Chapter 9. The Use of Intelligence to Combat Maras (Clifford Gyves)
-- Chapter 10. The Impact of U.S. Anti-gang Policies in Central America: Quo Vadis? (Florina Cristiana Matei)
• Conclusion: The Dilemma of Fighting Gangs in New Democracies (Thomas Bruneau and Lucía Dammert)
• Notes
• Glossary
• List of Acronyms
• Bibliography
• About the Contributors
• Index
Since terrorism became a global national security issue in the new millennium,
all governments have wrestled with its effects. Yet strong measures against terrorism have often made the
root causes of the problem worse, while weak responses have invited further attack. In response, this book
explains how governments can construct and execute the most effective strategies to combat terrorism—and
how they can manage the consequences of those acts of terrorism they cannot prevent.
It provides an overview of the complex problem of terrorism and offers a guide to shaping solutions to
fit the unique structures and processes of governments. These issues and their solutions are demonstrated
in six case studies. The book's value lies in its holistic treatment of what governments can do to protect
their societies, with the ultimate goal of reducing terrorism from the global security threat it is today
to a national-level criminal problem.
Written by a team of experts, the book offers a concise but complete course on the most important national
security challenge of our time.
"No government effort is more 'interagency' than preventing terrorism or dealing
with it when it cannot be prevented. Fighting Back is a surprisingly readable guide for developing
'whole of government' and multinational strategies against terrorism — for our international
partners as well as our own leaders." — The Honorable James R Locher III, former Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict
The purpose of this article is to contribute to a better understanding of the
contemporary value for democracy of the relationship between elected leaders
and the armed forces. Hence, it focuses on the military effectiveness dimension of
the CMR. It discusses why it is important and what newer democracies can do to
successfully develop effective armed forces. The article provides "lessons learned/
best practices" of achieving effectiveness from three developing democracies — Chile,
Hungary, and, Mongolia.
This book develops a new approach to the analysis of civil-military relations by focusing
on the effectiveness of the armed forces in fulfilling roles & missions, and on their efficiency
in terms of cost. The approach is applied to the United States using official documents
and interviews with policy-makers. In addition to analyzing the impact of defense reform
initiatives over the past thirty years, the book includes the recent phenomenon of
"contracting-out" security that has resulted in greater numbers of contractors in
Iraq and Afghanistan than uniformed military personnel.
While the book demonstrates that democratic civilian control of the military in the U.S. is
not at issue, it reveals that there is little public control over Private Security Contractors
due to a combination of the current restricted interpretation of what is an "inherently
governmental function" and limited legal authority. This is despite the fact that PSCs have
taken on roles and missions that were previously the responsibility of the uniformed military.
Further, despite numerous efforts to redress the problem, current political and institutional
barriers to reform are not likely to be overcome soon.
This article examines an important (and most problematic) component of the
democratic civil-military relations (CMR) concept (understood in terms of
democratic control, effectiveness, and efficiency of the armed forces, police
forces, and intelligence agencies). It focuses (1) on the democratization of
intelligence, that is finding a proper balance between intelligence effectiveness
and transparency, and (2) on what particular factors support or arrest progress
in the democratization of intelligence. The article provides supporting examples
from Brazil and Romania, two developing democracies that have been
undergoing major reforms of their intelligence systems for almost 20 years, in
terms of both transparency and effectiveness.
The IDARM Program has recently published their textbook "Defense Acquisition Management: A Reader"
in Russian. Please find an excerpt from the text below:
"Данная книга представляет собой “учебник” или, другими словами, сборник статей, посвященных различным аспектам организации оборонных закупок. Книга была составлена преподавателями Международной Программы по управлению ресурсами в области оборонных закупок (IDARM), являющейся отделением Международной аспирантуры в Институте последипломного образования ВМС США, по инициативе д-ра Элизабет Райт, руководителя Международной Программы IDARM. Название IDARM было выбрано не случайно – Программа предназначается для международной аудитории, поэтому, практике, принятой в системе США, внимание уделяется только в случаях, когда она представляет собой передовой опыт, который может применяться повсеместно."
To order a book please contact:
Luzcyl Kay, Book Consultant, iUniverse, Inc luzcyl.kay@iuniverse.com
1-877-820-5395 ext. 8125
Or visit www.iUniverse.com
Softcover ISBN# 9781450288675
Hardcover ISBN# 9781450288699
A War of Mind. Intelligence, Secret Services and Strategic Knowledge
in the Twenty First Century
On 19 November 2010, the Director of Romania's National Intelligence Service, Dr. George Cristian Maior launched his
new edited book on Intelligence, entitled "A War of Mind. Intelligence, Secret Services and Strategic Knowledge in the
Twenty First Century" ("Un război al minţii. Intelligence, servicii de informaţii şi cunoaştere strategică în secolul XXI"),
at the annual "Gaudeamus" Book Fair in Bucharest. Among the contributors, one could distinguish key intelligence practitioners
(e.g. the current SRI Deputy Director, two SRI Director's Advisors, and a former Head of Military Intelligence Directorate),
consumers of intelligence (e.g. a former Minister of Defense), as well as prominent members of the Academia
(e.g. historians and political scientists who teach, research, and publish on security and intelligence). CCMR Faculty member
Cristiana Matei has contributed a chapter on the "Need for Effective Intelligence in a Democracy". The book
(including Cristiana Matei's chapter) has received a great review by "Revista Cultura" in Romania
(http://revistacultura.ro/nou/2010/12/%E2%80%9Eun-razboi-al-mintii%E2%80%9C-o-provocare-strategica).
CCMR supported RESDAL develop and publish the "RESDAL Atlas on Defense in Latin America and the Caribbean."
The Atlas, which includes the Caribbean for the first time, was launched at the Defense Ministerial meeting
in Bolivia in November 2010.
The Security and Defense Network of Latin America (RESDAL) was created in 2001 to promote the institutionalization
of the state's security and defense functions within a framework of democracy, by strengthening civilian capacities.
Since the emergence of democratization in Latin America in the 1980's, the issue of civil-military relations
during the transition has been the object of study and the basis for a large number of national and international
initiatives. By the mid 90's, many consolidating democracies seemed to have solved the crucial issue of subordinating
the military to their constitutional governments. However, the consolidation of democracy began to lose some ground,
mostly because democracies failed to improve the living standards of the people of Latin America. Security,
defense and civil-military relations once again became key issues inherent to democratic governance.
Faced with this context, many experts who had been working on various aspects of democratic governance realized
there was a need to seek answers to this new phenomenon beyond the sphere of personal and local efforts. We begin
with the principle that different realities can still share features in common, this inevitably points to the need
to communicate local experiences accumulated in each corner of this hemisphere, and to embark in a common search
for answers both at the theoretical and practical levels.
This need has encouraged us to create a cooperative network, which we formally launched in September 2001,
with the concerted efforts of many and the initial support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Objectives and skills
RESDAL's basic objectives are:
-- To strengthen the capacity of civil society groups, academics and government institutions that work in the field of civil-military relations, defense and security.
-- To promote cooperation between institutions and individuals involved in the area of civil-military relations, defense and security.
-- To monitor civil-military trends in Latin America and explore practical solutions.
-- To educate civilians about the challenges in the region's security, the role of the military and civilian responsibilities in strengthening democracy.
-- To provide a centralized, accessible resource for gathering information and communicating activities related to security and defense issues.
Through RESDAL, it is possible to approach various aspects of Security and Defense issues of young democracies
in Latin America in their different phases of evolution, namely: stages of transition, consolidation and potential
moments of regression these democracies may undergo.
Members who have joined the Network are valuable human capital at the academic and practical levels,
and are committed to working in cooperation. This implies a horizontal networking effort, dedicated to
the design and use of a wide range of instruments to allow civilians of the hemisphere to effectively
and efficiently manage the sensitive issues of defense and security.
RESDAL strives to bring together not only individual expertise but also collective governmental, non-governmental,
academic or political knowledge, regardless of whether it comes from the civil or military sphere. As a result,
we are able to end the old contradiction that views these issues as antagonistic simply because they are approached
differently by military and civilians.
Defense Acquisition Management: A Reader is a collection of articles on various aspects of Defense
Acquisition Management. It was prepared by the faculty of the International Defense Acquisition
Resource Management program, of the Center for Civil-Military Relations, School of International
Graduate Studies, of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and is the initiative of Dr. Elisabeth Wright,
the IDARM Program Manager. The chapters in this book encompass the core components of the IDARM Program
curriculum: acquisition management, which includes systems engineering and, within it, requirements
determination and logistical planning; procurement and contracting processes, the negotiation of contracts
and agreements, as well as the settlement of disputes. It also includes two chapters on specialized subjects
in defense acquisition: research and development, and U.S. weapons sales to foreign governments. The chapters
focus on international best practices and include references from the United States,
the United Kingdom, and Germany.
To order a book please contact:
Luzcyl Kay, Book Consultant, iUniverse, Inc luzcyl.kay@iuniverse.com
1-877-820-5395 ext. 8125
Or visit www.iUniverse.com
Softcover ISBN# 9781450226103
Hardcover ISBN# 9781450226127
The Global Commons are those areas that are used by multiple nations and
private industries, and yet are not controlled by any single nation or private
entity. They include international waters, international airspace, cyberspace
and outer space. Since so many different actors operate within these shared spaces,
including the U.S. military and its allies, regulation and protection of
these areas becomes extremely complex.
Retired Navy Capt. Scott Jasper, a faculty member at the Center for Civil-Military
Relations and the National Security Affairs department at NPS, recently edited
a book that examines these complexities, titled Securing Freedom in the Global Commons.
The book, released March 15 by Stanford University Press, is Jasper's second.
Ever since the founding of the Red de Seguridad y Defensa de America Latina (RESDAL)
in 2001, CCMR has had a close and collaborative relationship with the main individuals
and organizations involved with the network. CCMR faculty have worked with Marcela
Donadio and the team at SER en el 2000 in Buenos Aires, and have collaborated
at academic conferences there, in Chile, Ecuador, and through the active group
on Democracy and Security of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA).
When CCMR was asked to assist in the English publication of the updated ATLAS we
responded enthusiastically. Now that we see the final product, not only in Spanish and
English, but also in French, we are doubly pleased we were able to support this
important initiative.
The PDFs of the English edition of the ATLAS can be found at:
This volume analyzes the impact of key global trends on civil-military relations
by examining defense reform processes since the end of the Cold War. Civil - military
relations are reconceptualized to emphasize three dimensions: civilian control
of the armed forces, effectiveness in carrying out roles and missions, and efficiency
in use of resources. For more information click here.
"An excellent piece of work. I know of no other book that has dealt with so large a sample of different aspects of defense reform on four continents. This volume truly goes beyond the existing literature in civil-military relations. It addresses a broad audience with clarity and impressive insight " a most welcome and highly informative reading for students and scholars of civil-military relations around the globe." AUREL CROISSANT, Professor, Institute of Political Science, Ruprecht-Karls University, Heidelberg, Germany
The April 2007 Choice review resulted in the decision to include Who guards the guardians and how: democratic civil-military relations, ed. by Thomas C. Bruneau and Scott D. Tollefson. Texas, 2006, in the competition for the Outstanding Academic Book title. The book won the Outstanding Academic Titles, 2007. Choice, v.45, no. 05, January 2008
April 2007 Choice Review:
"This excellent volume explains the ways in which political and military
institutions may structure civil-military relations and create effective
and politically reliable armed forces. This book fills an important gap
in the literature relating to this subject because, strange as it may
seem, there is no systematic treatment of this subject even though it is
critically important for democratizing states (and, one might argue, for
existing democracies) as democratization theorists seldom do more than
merely point out the significance of creating democratic civil-military
relations. The book is informed by theory, to be sure, but its main
value lies in excellent and wide-ranging chapters that show what can go
wrong and why in postauthoritarian environments, and it suggests ways in
which pitfalls may be avoided. Particularly valuable are the chapters by
editor Bruneau and Jeanne Kinney Giraldo, eminent social scientists
whose knowledge of diverse postauthoritarian polities and confident
"technical" expertise shine through every page. This is one of the most
useful books published on civil-military relations in the last fifty
years. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers,
faculty, and practitioners.."
— Z. Barany, University of Texas at
Austin
Outstanding Academic Title Award
Every year, Choice subject editors single out for recognition the most significant print and
electronic works reviewed in Choice during the previous calendar year. Appearing annually in
Choice's January issue, this prestigious list of publications reflects the best in scholarly
titles and attracts extraordinary attention from the academic library community. The 2007 feature
includes 646 titles in 54 disciplines and subsections. In awarding OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE status,
the editors apply several criteria to reviewed titles: overall excellence in presentation and
scholarship; importance relative to other literature in the field distinction as a first treatment
of a given subject in book or electronic form; originality or uniqueness of treatment; value to
undergraduate students; importance in building undergraduate library collections. The list cites
only bibliographic information. The number and publication issue of each review are also provided
to assist readers wishing detailed evaluations of the titles. In publishing the OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC
TITLE feature, Choice acknowledges and honors the authors, editors, and publishers of these works
for their vital contribution to the scholarly endeavor.
In Risk Management in Public Contracting, Elisabeth Wright,
Ph.D., CPCM, offers a concise yet thorough overview of risk and
risk management in public sector contracting. Emphasizing the fluid
environment of contracting and contract management, Ms. Wright underscores
how planning, monitoring, anticipating change, and proactive oversight
immediately impact the success of contract's stated outcomes. Risk
Management in Public Contracting not only defines risk in the
procurement cycle, but provides a theoretical background for understanding
the nature of risk. Identitfying a framework and methodology for
managing risk ensures the sucess of both the public agency and the
government supplier.
Please contact Fuad Abutaleb at fabutaleb@nigp.org
to place an order for this book
By Thomas Bruneau, Lucía Dammert, and Elizabeth Skinner
Thomas C. Bruneau
The IDARM Program has recently published their textbook "Defense Acquisition Management: A Reader"
in Russian. Please find an excerpt from the text below:
Defense Acquisition Management: A Reader is a collection of articles on various aspects of Defense
Acquisition Management. It was prepared by the faculty of the International Defense Acquisition
Resource Management program, of the Center for Civil-Military Relations, School of International
Graduate Studies, of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and is the initiative of Dr. Elisabeth Wright,
the IDARM Program Manager. The chapters in this book encompass the core components of the IDARM Program
curriculum: acquisition management, which includes systems engineering and, within it, requirements
determination and logistical planning; procurement and contracting processes, the negotiation of contracts
and agreements, as well as the settlement of disputes. It also includes two chapters on specialized subjects
in defense acquisition: research and development, and U.S. weapons sales to foreign governments. The chapters
focus on international best practices and include references from the United States,
the United Kingdom, and Germany.
The Global Commons are those areas that are used by multiple nations and
private industries, and yet are not controlled by any single nation or private
entity. They include international waters, international airspace, cyberspace
and outer space. Since so many different actors operate within these shared spaces,
including the U.S. military and its allies, regulation and protection of
these areas becomes extremely complex. 
Dr. Donald Abenheim
Elisabeth Wright, Ph. D., CPCM