The traumatic journey from dictatorship to democracy - Peacekeeping operations and civil-military relations in Argentina, 1989-1999

In 1983, democratic elections ended a seven-year military dictatorship in Argentina, bringing the end of a regime calling itself the "Process of National Reorganization" and, with it, the end of the "Dirty War," the state's campaign to eliminate what it labeled "subversive elements" within Argentine society. Estimates suggest that the Dirty War claimed as many as 30,000 lives, decimating civilian political activity and civil society in the process. When civilians returned to power, they moved to revoke domestic political authority from the military and to alter military status by shaping the armed forces into something far less threatening. One of Argentina's most prominent goals in restructuring its defense industry in this way was to promote peacekeeping operations. This article argues that Carlos Menem's civilian administration (1989-1999) used peacekeeping missions to create an entirely new identity for the armed forces in Argentina and to direct their attentions away from domestic politics.