ANCLAS joined the Embassy of Costa Rica on 1 December 2022 to co-host a colloquium on the experience of Costa Rica’s record of 74 years without a standing army. Participants noted there were 26 countries, mostly small countries in Central America, the Pacific and the Caribbean, which have followed Costa Rica’s example.

Drawing on these experiences, speakers drew to attention the costs associated with establishing and maintaining a military force, including: the economic costs (to the detriment of social spending); the moral costs (of training of individuals conditioned to be desensitised to violence); the environmental costs (given their disproportionate contribution to CO2 emissions); and the socio-political costs (which in extreme cases have resulted in repression or indeed the undermining of democracy).

In the case of Costa Rica participants noted that demilitarisation had freed up funds to strengthen health, education and welfare programs. It had also given its diplomats credibility as activists in global negotiations on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, environmental protection, peace and justice issues and international humanitarian law.

On the other hand speakers acknowledged that the concept of security had evolved beyond traditional concerns about external violence. It now included more complex transnational threats such as terrorism, cybercrime, narco-trafficking, climate change, illegal migration and global pandemics. Against this background some questioned whether countries without military institutions would have the logistical capacity, resources and manpower to confront new and emerging security threats.

Inevitably views on demilitarisation are diverse and likely to remain so. But Costa Rica’s example gives pause for thought about the case for a change of culture, a redefinition of sovereignty, and a reordering of national priorities in an increasingly interdependent world.

A full recording of the colloquium can be viewed here.