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For Chile’s small, open economy, globalization has undoubtedly brought many benefits but also, according to Defense Minister Andrés Allamand, a new responsibility to contribute to mitigating the threats, shared by countries around the world, that are inherent in globalization’s “dark side”. Or, in other words, to advance from a traditional defense policy to a security policy.

Speaking at an AmCham breakfast on August 12, Minister Allamand explained the difference. Defense, he said, is about guarding against a potential military threat posed by a clearly defined and identified source whereas security is about threats whose nature is both more diverse and more diffuse.

The typical examples of the latter threats are terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. Most modern definitions, however, also include matters like energy supply security - currently a key concern for Chile - and vulnerabilities such as extreme poverty or inequality and illegal immigration.  

These risks are not only interconnected - linked by their capacity to undermine institutions - but also cut across borders and call for international cooperation. As a result, national defense policies as traditionally understood no longer suffice for a country integrated with the rest of the world, said Minister Allamand.

Chile’s defense policy has long been clear. “As the Foreign Ministry often points out, we have no aggressive intentions towards any other country or territorial claims against our neighbors,” said Allamand, “but we do have a defensive and dissuasive military capacity.”

But now, like other countries - Brazil in 2008, Australia in 2009, the United Kingdom in 2010 and, most recently, Spain - Chile is reviewing its defense policy in the light of these less traditional risks and its international responsibilities. The results, expected to be published next year, will serve as a basis for open discussion, including not only Congress but also the academic community and, for example, business associations, promised Allamand.  

Security threats aren’t as remote as they seem, he warned AmCham members and their guests at the breakfast. One reason, he said, is that “we are part of Latin America”.

Despite the growth and stability of recent years, institutions in many Latin American countries remain fragile, he noted. And, measured by the homicide rate, it is the world’s most violent region.

And, for Chile, the threats are getting closer, he noted. Colombia’s efforts to increase its security have meant a southwards shift in the coca plantations that provide the raw material for cocaine. They have moved into Peru and Bolivia - or, in other words, just next door to Chile, he pointed out.

As a result, drug trafficking has also shifted south. “And that’s obviously not just a police matter,” suggested Allamand.

In that context, Chile’s long border, with relatively few formal crossing points, is an increasing concern. Moreover, the so-called bioceanic corridors - road and rail links stretching across the region from Atlantic to Pacific - that are being built to facilitate trade can, by the same token, facilitate illicit activities, he warned.  

In Chile, border controls are managed by the police under instructions from the Interior Ministry, rather than by the Armed Forces and the Defense Ministry. “But much more protection is needed,” admitted Allamand, identifying this as an area in which the Armed Forces can contribute in a subsidiary role.

Terrorism, although an apparently remote threat in Chile, also needs to be considered, he added. “It is increasingly clear that terrorism is mutating from a threat posed by organizations like Al Qaeda or, for example, the FARC to one posed by individuals,” he said.

Take, for example, the attack suffered by Norway in late July. It wasn’t saved by its status as one of the world’s most developed countries or its high level of equality and protection of civil rights, noted Minister Allamand.

Another emerging security issue is the protection of natural resources. “In the history of humanity, they have always been a source of conflict between countries,” Allamand told AmCham members.  

Brazil, for example, has defined the protection and sustainable development of the Amazon as part of its new security strategy. “It decided that it has a strategic reserve that guarantees its possibility of emerging in the future as a world-scale power,” he pointed out.

Security has, in other words, become a matter not only of the defense of a country’s territorial sovereignty. Instead, it is now the much broader matter of the framework within which countries - and their businesses - can safely pursue their growth and development.  

Ruth Bradley is a freelance journalist based in Santiago and a former editor of bUSiness CHILE.