SWJ–El Centro Fellows Release New Edited Collection — States of Exception: Criminal Armed Groups and the Evolution of South American Policing

SWJ–El Centro Fellows Release Edited Collection: States of Exception: Criminal Armed Groups and the Evolution of South American Policing

Small Wars Journal–El Centro scholars have contributed to a new edited collection States of Exception: Criminal Armed Groups and the Evolution of South American Policing. The text is edited by Senior Fellow John P. Sullivan and Fellow Pablo Baisotti and contains contributions from leading global scholars of the region, including Diego Ramiírez Sánchez an El Centro Associate.

The text ‘s introduction and nine chapters seek to document the shifting South American security landscape, investigating state responses—including policing and military intervention—to transnational crime, deviant globalization, criminal insurgency, and endemic corruption, including:

● The Rise of Third-Generation Gangs and criminal governance networks.

● National Dilemmas spanning Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador.

● The Global Nexus, including the strategic alliances forged by Italian mafias like the ‘Ndrangheta within Latin America’s criminal ecosystem.

Abstract:

At the heart of this crisis is a fierce competition for power, territory, and legitimacy between nation-states and decentralized, highly adaptable criminal armed groups (CAGs). Operating across illicit economic circuits, these organizations have evolved beyond high-intensity crime into a form of hybrid, gray-area warfare that directly challenges state sovereignty. States of Exception: Criminal Armed Groups and the Evolution of South American Policing offers a critical, multi-country analysis of how governments confront this endemic threat. Spanning the volatile spectrum between police reform and heavy-handed militarization, this volume examines the fragile balance of citizen security and governance. Through targeted case studies, the book exposes the structural vulnerabilities—corruption, lack of agency cohesion, and human rights concerns—that frequently undermine state interventions, from the militarized favela pacifications in Brazil to infrastructure protection in Chile.

States of Exception: Criminal Armed Groups and the Evolution of South American Policing makes a timely contribution to the literature on crime, conflict and governance in South America. It is a starting point for understanding the dynamics of criminal insurgencies in the Western Hemisphere with insights for addressing criminal armed groups and transnational organized crime throughout the globe.

John P. Sullivan and Pablo Baisotti, Eds., States of Exception: Criminal Armed Groups and the Evolution of South American Policing. New York: Defense Press, 2026 [ISBN: 978953327017 Paper; 243 pages; ASIN: B0HKF1DDRG, Kindle, 307 pages]