The United States and the Colombian Conflict: The Construction of a Militarized Intervention; What do Counterinsurgency and Peace Really Mean to the State?

Abstract

This thesis assesses the economic and social ramifications of militarized U.S. intervention in Colombia. Using declassified policy and military documents, published accounts, and data collected during an August 2013 fieldwork experience in the Valle de Cauca and Cauca departments in Southwestern Colombia, the author examines how United States and Colombian conceptions of statehood are illuminated through militarized security and economic policies related to, or justified by, the Colombian conflict.