Connecting Weapons With Violence: The South American Experience

This research paper introduces the 'Towards Collaborative Peace' (TCP) project by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), which examines the illegal trade of small arms and light weapons in Southern Africa and their role in fostering a 'culture of violence'. The project employs a south-south approach, comparing trends in Southern Africa with those in the southern part of South America, specifically within the Mercosur countries, to propose regional control mechanisms and local strategies for reversing violence.

• Small arms and light weapons—including pistols, grenades, machine guns, rocket launchers, and landmines—are primary drivers of civilian casualties and abuses of authority during and after wars because they are standard issue in conflicts and typically lack control during post-conflict processes.
• The proliferation of small arms in Southern Africa is driven by the illegal transport of weapons across porous borders from states with massive surpluses resulting from internal strife and poor disarmament, such as Angola and Mozambique.
• The availability of weapons in Southern Africa has contributed to an emerging 'culture of violence' where communities abandon traditional negotiated conflict-resolution mechanisms in favor of violent solutions, often acquiring weapons for self-defence.
• The TCP project utilizes a comparative 'south-south approach' by analyzing weapons distribution and violence in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) countries—Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—specifically focusing on the cultures of violence in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

APA

Der Ghoughassian, K., & Carneir, L. P. (1998). Connecting Weapons With Violence: The South American Experience. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-25-connecting-weapons-with-violence-the-south-american-experience-by-khatchik-der-ghoughassian-snd-leandro-piquet-carneir

Chicago

Der Ghoughassian, Khatchik, and Leandro Piquet Carneir. Connecting Weapons With Violence: The South American Experience. Institute for Security Studies, 1998. https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-25-connecting-weapons-with-violence-the-south-american-experience-by-khatchik-der-ghoughassian-snd-leandro-piquet-carneir.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Der Ghoughassian |first1=Khatchik |last2=Carneir |first2=Leandro Piquet |title=Connecting Weapons With Violence: The South American Experience |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 1998 |url=https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-25-connecting-weapons-with-violence-the-south-american-experience-by-khatchik-der-ghoughassian-snd-leandro-piquet-carneir |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{derghoughassian1998connecting, author = {Der Ghoughassian, Khatchik and Carneir, Leandro Piquet}, title = {{Connecting Weapons With Violence: The South American Experience}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {1998}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-25-connecting-weapons-with-violence-the-south-american-experience-by-khatchik-der-ghoughassian-snd-leandro-piquet-carneir}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }