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Combatant Commands Research Guide

Unified Geographic and Functional Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense

SOUTHCOM Overview & Strategy

US Southern Command - SOUTHCOM, headquartered in Doral, Florida, is one of six geographic combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense, overseeing military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

SOUTHCOM Overview:  Mission/Vision & Posture Statement | History

Key Operations:  Area of Responsibility (AOR) | Commander Priorities | Exercises & Operations

U.S. Southern Command Strategy 2018: Partnership for the Americas - Strategic publication on SOUTHCOM’s approach to partnerships, threats, and regional security in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Geopolitical and Operational Maps

Resources offering geopolitical and military situational awareness within SOUTHCOM's AOR:

Key Research Institution

 Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies logo William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

DoD-funded academic institution focused on regional and security issues in the Western Hemisphere.

Hemispheric Forums | Institutional Relations | Document LibraryNews 

 

Reports & Studies

Security Studies on JSTOR is an excellent resource to find research reports from different policy institutes in the field of security studies.  Keyword is the default search in JSTOR with the option to refine results by publication year, content type and subject.  Advanced Search allows more precise searching. 

Below are some reports from this collection:

A variety of quality, open access reports are also available from government and private research organizations.  Important sources include:

Below is a selected list of reports from different research institutions:

Books

Enter your search terms and click Search to find an e-book:

Selected books relevant to security operations in the Southern Command:

Use the Library Online Catalog to search for printed book titles, which may also be available electronically.

Journal & News Articles

Enter a journal title to check full-text availability and coverage in all library collections:

Selected journal articles for deeper analysis and exploration:

Journals to Explore

Databases for Military & Regional Studies

Tip: Use these keywords to refine searches in JSTOR, ProQuest, or the library catalog.

Keyword Index

Use this list to keyword list to refine your searches in databases.

  • Armed conflict
  • Border security
  • Civil rights
  • Climate change
  • Combined operations
  • Counterinsurgency
  • Counterterrorism
  • Corruption
  • Crime
  • Customs
  • Cybercrime
  • Cybersecurity
  • Demographics
  • Deterrence
  • Diplomacy
  • Disasters
  • Drug trafficking
  • Economic dependency
  • Economic development
  • Election security
  • Energy security
  • Environmental security
  • Food security
  • Geopolitics
  • Globalization
  • Great power competition
  • Homeland security
  • Human rights
  • Human security
  • Human trafficking
  • Humanitarian assistance
  • Illicit trafficking
  • Immigration
  • Infectious diseases
  • Infrastructure security
  • Interagency partnerships
  • International agreements
  • International disputes
  • International security
  • Maritime security
  • Migration
  • Military bases
  • Military partnerships
  • Military spending
  • National security
  • Nationalism
  • Natural/Mineral resources
  • Organized crime
  • Political oppression
  • Political stability
  • Population growth
  • Radicalism
  • Refugees
  • Regional cooperation
  • Resource competition
  • Resource security
  • Security alliances
  • Social change
  • Sovereignty
  • Stabilization
  • Terrorism
  • Trade routes
  • Transnational networks
  • Transnational threats
  • Transportation security
  • Urbanization
  • Violent extremism
  • Water disputes / shortages