In examining the history of a 19th-century boundary dispute between Chile and Argentina, Dr. Rauch offers insights into the motivations and processes of governments vis-á-vis the rationale and support of national military power. As he shows, a military establishment brings enormous costs to developing economies, leads to the formation of military elites, and has profound implications for a geographical region.

Following a discussion of Spanish colonization in the southern cone of Latin America, Rauch moves to the intercountry dispute; each country's search for allies; internal development difficulties; economic progress and military investment; internal development of the armed forces in each country; and their relative prowess, which ultimately resulted in Argentina's armed forces being the best trained and equipped in the region. Of considerable interest to scholars and researchers of Latin American, military, and developmental studies.