When Security Forces Do Not Respond to Security Threats: Organizational Learning in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Armies.

Ecuador and Peru present an interesting puzzle: in neither country does the army employ its forces to confront aggressively the major security threat that falls within the army's realm of expertise. In Ecuador, the army performs internal security activities instead of guarding the northern border from incursions by armed Colombian insurgents. In Peru, the army is not pursuing the remnants of that country's internal insurgency. This paper argues that the two armies' goals and behavior can best be identified and explained using an organizational learning framework, supplemented by an "organizational continuity/survival" approach. The paper shows how officers' interpretation of the past shapes perceived army objectives and roles, and in turn helps explain army behavior. Whereas in Ecuador the army largely pursues security goals, its Peruvian counterpart acts according to immediate interests in organizational (and officers' personal) prestige. The analysis relies heavily on officers' stated beliefs. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]