Entrenching the Problem? International Organizations and Their Engagement in Latin America to Address Violence: The Case of the European Union in the Northern Triangle

Lehmann, Kai

doi:10.1590/S0102-8529.2019430200006

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Research Articles • Contexto int. 43 (2) • May/Aug 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-8529.2019430200006 copy

Entrenching the Problem? International Organizations and Their Engagement in Latin America to Address Violence: The Case of the European Union in the Northern Triangle

Enfatizando o Problema? Organizações Internacionais e Seu Engajamento na América Latina para Enfrentar a Violência - O Caso da União Europeia no Triângulo Norte

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Latin America is the most violent region in the world. Yet, decades of political and financial investment by the international community have not had the desired results. Using the work of the European Union in the Northern Triangle of Central America as a case study, this article asks what explains this failure. Utilizing the conceptual framework of Complexity and Human System Dynamics, it argues that current policies actually entrench the pattern of conditions which lead to, and sustain, violence. It shows how, by reconceptualizing this problem using the concepts of Complexity, policies could be made more effective and sustainable.

Keywords
violence; Latin America; European Union; complexity; Human System Dynamics (HSD)

Conditions for Self-organisation	Violence
Container	Recognition of violence as a problem Social class Community
Difference	Experience of violence Priorities in dealing with violence, objectives Purpose of violence: Why is it committed? Social and economic differences
Exchanges/Connections	Media Political structures to address violence Violence as a means of exchange: ‘against criminals’ or as a defence mechanism of community
Emergent Behaviour	Incoherent. Incompatible containers; too many significant differences; exchanges insufficient to release tension. System not resilient enough.

Conditions for Self-organisation	Violence
Container	Citizen security approach to violence by the EU
Difference	Emphasis given to violence by various actors at regional level Difference between regional, national and local approach to violence Internal differences between actors Differences in interests between international organizations and (some of) their respective member states
Exchange	Funding for projects from actors at regional level Political structures to address violence at regional, national and local level Public opinion
Emergent Behaviour	Incoherent. Weak containers; countervailing differences; exchanges too narrow to release tension. System not resilient enough.

Conditions for Self-organisation	Stability and iron fist policies	Citizen security-based initiatives	Iron fist, stability AND citizen security policy
Container	Small and few: Violence as a clearly definable problem committed by clearly identifiable actors	Many and entangled: The social conditions (‘root causes’) of violence	Large and many: What are the aims of the policy? Aimed at whom? What actions?
Difference	Few: Gang-member or not; how many killed or imprisoned	Many, some significant: Resources from international community, for instance	Innumerable: The same agent projecting different objectives to different partners;Tensions within and between different actors
Exchange	Few: MediaThe ‘ok’ from the international community for actions undertaken	Ambiguous: NGOs at meso-level working with state and local community	Arbitrary, Meaningless: Who communicates what to whom and how? Too many conflicting messages
*Emergent Behaviour*	Predictable pattern Clear cause and effect Tight coupling	Emergent patterns Emergent structure Nonlinear cause and effect Loose coupling	No patterns Random No cause and effect Uncoupling

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[1] Kai Enno Lehmann is Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations of the University of São Paulo (IRI-USP) in Brazil, having previously held positions at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio e Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and the University of Liverpool in England, from which he holds a Ph.D. in International Relations. He works on crises and the response of the international community to them, using the conceptual framework of Complexity, with particular focus on Latin America. He has done several pieces of consultancy work for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Bertelsmann Foundation on Central America.