"Interesting collection of essays on the national security challenges faced by Colombia and Latin America in the 1990s. The authors agree given the conditions created by the end of the Cold War - the rise of globalization and interdependence and the consolidation of democracy in Latin America - the old notions of national security focused on anticommunism, US leadership, the central role of the military and the regional hypotheses of conflict should be replaced by a new doctrine aimed at strengthening democracy, promoting South American cooperation, restructuring military-civilian relations, and facing new challenges. Particularly interesting are the articles studying Colombian issues, such as national defense and security between 1958-93, narcotraffic, control of light weapons, and relations between citizenry and police"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.