A social constructivist analysis of civil-military relations: US-Mexican bilateral military relations, 2000-2008

Abstract

This thesis looks at the nature of civil-military relations in the post-Cold War and the post-9/11 era through the theoretical lens of social constructivism. The study looks at the inter-relationship between the respective civil-military relations and US-Mexican bilateral ties from a constructivist perspective, with the aim of deconstructing the ideational structures of civil-military relations within the state and the state based international system to promote stronger organic structures for civilian control over the state agents of violence. The aim of thesis is to provide a theoretical model to both unite the theoretical rationale for the humanisation, indeed demilitarisation, of security concerns within the Western Hemisphere and in particular the US and Mexico. Hence, creating a novel theoretical model for the understanding and explanation of civil-military and bilateral relations.