Rule of Law and the U.S. Quest for Security in El Salvador

摘要

This paper examines U.S. efforts to promote the rule of law in El Salvador from 1977 to the present. The study begins with a discussion of the theoretical and practical meanings of the rule of law and follows with an examination of the centrality of the concept in U.S. strategic thinking. Separate case studies examine U.S. efforts to promote the rule of law in El Salvador in response to security threats ranging from human rights violations and insurgency to illegal immigration and transnational street gangs. The central argument of the paper is that under the rubric of promotion of the rule of law, the United States has unsuccessfully sought to eliminate threats to U.S. national security by trying to remedy fundamental flaws in the Salvadoran government. As such, U.S. rule of law promotion efforts in El Salvador must be seen as failed attempts at nation-building. Using the U.S. experience in El Salvador as a reference point, the paper reaches the conclusion that promoting the rule of law is not an effective means of addressing threats to U.S. national security.