Operation Condor the U.S
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Bachelor thesis Operation condor The U.S. involvement - A rational strategy or a political powerplay? Writer: Amanda Hedman Supervisor: Martin Nilsson Examinator: Emil Uddhammar Date: Fall 2018 Political Science: 2SK30E Abstract During 1975-1989 a transnational state-terror operation was carried out by several South American states called Operation Condor. Declassified documents show that the U.S. government assisted the operation with communication and intelligence techniques. This case-study is with a theory consuming method aiming to analyze the internal decision process within the U.S. government to assist Condor. The analysis is based on two theoretical frameworks by Allison Graham, the “Rational Actor” and “Governmental Politics”. By studying the cold war doctrine, the objectives of the U.S. and the political actors behind the assessment the aim is to understand the structures that shaped the final decision. The conclusion shows that the Cold War, political crises and power relations between politicians played a major role in the internal decision process. Key words: Operation Condor, National Security, Latin America, USA, Foreign Policy 2 Table of Content 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 ScientiFic problem and relevance ................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Purpose and question Formulation ................................................................................................. 6 1.3 Disposition ..................................................................................................................................... 6 2 Research design and method: ............................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Qualitative single case study .......................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Theory consuming research design: .............................................................................................. 7 2.3 Demarcation ................................................................................................................................... 8 2.4 Source credibility and gathering .................................................................................................... 8 3 Previous research and theoretical framework .................................................................................. 9 3.1 Previous research .......................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................. 10 3.3 Model I: Rational Actor ............................................................................................................... 11 3.3.1 Analytical tool For Model I: ...................................................................................................... 11 3.3.2 Limitations within Model I: ....................................................................................................... 12 3.4 Model III: Governmental politics ................................................................................................. 12 3.4.1 Analytical tool For Model III: .................................................................................................... 13 3.4.2 Limitations within Model III ..................................................................................................... 14 4 Historical background ....................................................................................................................... 15 4.1 The cold war and counterinsurgencies ........................................................................................ 15 4.2 U.S. National security doctrine and its implementation .............................................................. 16 4.3 The structure of Condor and the U.S. Involvement ...................................................................... 17 5 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 18 5.1 The US decisions through a rational actor perspective ............................................................... 18 5.1.2 OrganiZing concepts ................................................................................................................. 18 5.1.3 Components used For action ...................................................................................................... 20 5.2 The US decision through a governmental politics perspective .................................................... 24 5.2.1 OrganiZing concepts ................................................................................................................. 24 5.2.2 Each players components used for action: ............................................................................... 24 6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 33 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 35 3 1 Introduction “ The focus on war by stealth, against civilian population, gave rise to strategies of state terror that led to the brutaliZation, torture and murder of tens of thousands of people.” (McSherry, 2005, p. 37) In the midst of the cold war, in November 1975 a summit was held in Chile with military representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Chile. The meeting was initiated by the director of the Chilean “Secret Police” DINA (Dirección de Inteligiencia Nacional) Manuel Contreras. The purpose of this summit was to officially establish the transnational intelligence cooperation “Operation Condor”, between the South American countries. The meeting consisted in promising to cooperate and to more efficiently carry out the missions (Zancheta, 2016, pp. 1088-1089). Its main mission and purpose was to brutally repress political opponents and to halt the communist and socialist political movements rising in the continent. This was operated by subjecting the political opponents to forced disappearances, torture and killings. The main victims were people with different political standpoints e.g. leftists, teachers, union members and students. The operation consists of thousands of violations against the humanitarian laws, including the protection of refugees and asylum seekers (Lessa, 2015, pp. 497-498). In the beginning of the 21st century several declassified documents from the U.S. government were revealed and testimonies pointed that the operation was supported by the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA that works under the orders of United States of America (U.S.). Military officers operating in Condor state that meetings were held in the US facility of the Panama Canal Zone. In which, with the help of the US, exchanged interrogation techniques and communication strategies. In the context of the Cold War it is known that Washington, FBI, and the CIA adopted special national security doctrines towards the war against communism. Some of these doctrines included counterinsurgency and covert war. The question in this research is not why or how the US got involved but to understand the process and the political powerplay behind foreign policy decisions. 4 1.1 Scientific problem and relevance The role of the South American regimes during the cold war and in Operation Condor has been analyzed and well presented in the academic scholars, however the behavior of the external actors and influencers such as the U.S. is less investigated. When the Operation Condor was officially developed, the U.S. had already made several foreign policy decisions regarding actions in Latin America. The Panama canal zone was already established and running, the CIA had already been involved in covert operations to take down governments etc. This thesis will focus on the U.S. decision to assist the condor network with intelligence, communication and military techniques. It is clear that the U.S. acted in ways that were demanded during the Cold War, but the explanation of the thoughts behind the actions in this case still remain hidden. Why would the US get involved in the operation? What other options did they have? Within the field of foreign policy, there is an importance in finding answers to why specific international situations arose, but the answer is never simple. A government will not always act rationally, a leader will not always calculate the right outcome. Players within the decision-making process that determine the foreign policy behavior of a state will have preferences based on multiple conditions. The preferences and objectives might be influenced by historical, political and personal circumstances. All of this adds a complexity in understanding the why in a foreign policy decision. The challenge that arises and what makes the research topic interesting is that the decision making processes within a governing body might be affected by several unpredicted happenings. Every research case of “decision making” will be depending on time, presidency, international political situations etc. This