Bases, Bullets, and Ballots: The Effect of U.S. Military Aid on Political Conflict in Colombia

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Bases, Bullets, and Ballots: The Effect of U.S. Military Aid on Political Conflict in Colombia
Summary
The paper investigates the effect of U.S. military assistance on Colombia's political conflict. The research question in this paper is what is the interconnection between military assistance and political violence? The paper uses a unique dataset through a combination of different sources like U.S. military assistance records, the Conflict Analysis Resource Center (CERAC), the National Police, the Center for Study of Economic Development, the Columbia Statistical Agency, and the USAID Greenbook (Dube and Naidu 15-17). The empirical analysis incorporates a difference-in-differences approach which entails comparing conflict levels in municipalities with different amounts of U.S. military assistance and following the incorporation of the Plan Columbia initiative (Dube and Naidu 23). The paper's findings reveal that U.S. military aid contributed to a fundamental increase in Columbia's political conflict, particularly by establishing Plan Columbia. The paper observes that such a result is due to the aid's unintended implications like state militarization which led to the aggravation of political tensions and the weakening of democratic institutions (Dube and Naidu 17). Also, the research suggests that aid aimed at non-state entities was ineffective in mitigating violence (Dube and Naidu 1).
Critique and Recommendations
Although the paper presents fundamental insights, it is critical to address some limitations. The study's time frame may fail to thoroughly address the implications of military aid in the long run. Also, the study fails to comprehensively examine the mechanisms by which military aid leads to political conflict and thus calls for extensive analysis. The paper could lack sensitivity analyses that could test the comprehensiveness of the findings. The paper could incorporate qualitative data to support the quantitative analysis, offering a more extensive comprehension of the causal factors involved. Moreover, extending the analysis to more recent years could be critical in evaluating military aid's long-term impacts. The paper could examine possible heterogeneity in the impacts of military assistance across various regions or the kinds of conflicts to strengthen the findings. Therefore, revising and resubmitting the paper while addressing the above issues is essential. Generally, the paper offers a thought-provoking evaluation and analysis concerning the influence of U.S. military assistance on Colombia's political conflict (Dube and Naidu 2).
The Importance of the Paper
The paper significantly contributes to comprehending the interconnection between U.S. military assistance and Colombia's political conflict. It addresses a key research question that has practical and theoretical implications. The findings of the paper conflict with the conventional assumptions concerning the implications of military assistance in mitigating violence and highlights the unintended impacts which can emerge. The military assistance topic greatly concerns international relations, especially in regions affected by conflicts. Comprehending its influence on political conflict is v...