Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace?
Existing literature on peace, security and civil-military relations in Latin America only recently recognises the historical institutional sources of Costa Rican exceptionalism. While the Cold War's security predicament and the military dictatorship are common antecedents for most Central Ameri...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2022
|
| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25656/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25656/1/SDD%202.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848816417750646784 |
|---|---|
| author | Mohd Firdaus, A. J. |
| author_facet | Mohd Firdaus, A. J. |
| author_sort | Mohd Firdaus, A. J. |
| building | UKM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Existing literature on peace, security and civil-military relations in Latin America only recently recognises the historical institutional sources of Costa Rican exceptionalism. While the Cold War's security predicament and the military dictatorship are common antecedents for most Central American states, Costa Rican demilitarisation and pacifism origins are unique and incomparable. Rather than treating post-1948 civil war development as exceptionalism, this paper seeks to normalise their success. The paper examines the political development of Costa Ricans in the 1950s and whether José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer's historic decision to permanently abolish the military after the war helped to explain the institutionalisation process of organic civilian peace. This article reinvigorates Costa Rican exceptionalism. It analyses the cultivation of pacificism of those that have made the right choices in the face of adverse circumstances. The path dependence on national progress in education, health, and productivity only confirmed the unique political trajectory of Costa Rica, wherein they cannot be easily replicated or comparable. Understanding this distinctiveness should serve as a reminder of any renewed debate of Costa Rican exceptionalism in Central American security or democratic peace theory in liberal peacebuilding. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T01:05:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:generic.eprints.org:25656 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T01:05:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:generic.eprints.org:256562025-07-22T07:46:23Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25656/ Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? Mohd Firdaus, A. J. Existing literature on peace, security and civil-military relations in Latin America only recently recognises the historical institutional sources of Costa Rican exceptionalism. While the Cold War's security predicament and the military dictatorship are common antecedents for most Central American states, Costa Rican demilitarisation and pacifism origins are unique and incomparable. Rather than treating post-1948 civil war development as exceptionalism, this paper seeks to normalise their success. The paper examines the political development of Costa Ricans in the 1950s and whether José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer's historic decision to permanently abolish the military after the war helped to explain the institutionalisation process of organic civilian peace. This article reinvigorates Costa Rican exceptionalism. It analyses the cultivation of pacificism of those that have made the right choices in the face of adverse circumstances. The path dependence on national progress in education, health, and productivity only confirmed the unique political trajectory of Costa Rica, wherein they cannot be easily replicated or comparable. Understanding this distinctiveness should serve as a reminder of any renewed debate of Costa Rican exceptionalism in Central American security or democratic peace theory in liberal peacebuilding. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25656/1/SDD%202.pdf Mohd Firdaus, A. J. (2022) Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? SINERGI: Journal of Strategic Studies & International Affairs, 2 (2). pp. 13-35. ISSN 2805-4520 https://spaj.ukm.my/sinergi/index.php/sei/issue/view/4 |
| spellingShingle | Mohd Firdaus, A. J. Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? |
| title | Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? |
| title_full | Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? |
| title_fullStr | Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? |
| title_short | Abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in Costa Rica: reflective but limited peace? |
| title_sort | abolishing military and cultivating pacifism in costa rica: reflective but limited peace? |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25656/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25656/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25656/1/SDD%202.pdf |