The end of the Cold War and the redefinition of the international order, the globalization and intensification of transnational integration, and the so-called national fragmentation, altogether, have induced changes in the concepts of both security and defense. Both the hegemon and NATO, its military allied bloc, have redefined (and even imposed) the role of Latin American armed forces since the end of the Second World War. The article aims at analyzing the way the military in Latin America has perceived and reacted to this new role. The concepts of security and defense are revised, regarding as threats those coming either from outside or inside the national borders, both in developed and developing countries. The analysis takes Brazil as the empirical reference. The Brazilian military are still confused about their new mission in the post-Cold War world, and that brings important consequences to both the country defense policy and its adequacy to the new parameters of international security.
Safety and defense in the post-Cold War world; Identity crisis in the military; The new role of the military in Brazil; National defense policy