Abstract

BATTAGLINO, Jorge M.. Rearming and Low Perception of International Threat in South America: Is that Coexistence Possible?. Perf. latinoam. [online]. 2010, vol.18, n.35, pp.61-87. ISSN 0188-7653.

The purpose of this article is to critically analyze the use of the concept of rearmament to explain the purchases of arms in South America. The use of this term has not only contributed to the conceptual confusion but also to a risky political use of it. The concept rearmament has a specific historical meaning which is often link to situations of acute perceptions of threat among states and to the imminent break of war. From a theoretical and empirical perspective, neither the historical understanding of the concept nor its empirical referents are present in the region.

Keywords : rearmament; arms purchases; security in South America; arms race; military spending; threat perception.