Mission and editorial focus
FASOC publishes analysis that helps readers understand how defence institutions are shaped by democracy, economics, and international pressures. Instead of treating “security” as an abstract concept, the journal tends to work with real institutions: ministries of defence, armed forces, police–military boundaries, civilian oversight bodies, and regional cooperation mechanisms.
The core editorial lane includes topics such as defence policy and strategy, military professionalism and doctrine, democratic civilian control, security sector reform, hemispheric and regional security, peace operations, and debates on arms control and disarmament. The journal has historically served both academic readers and policy-facing audiences.
Institutional background
The publication is associated with FLACSO Chile and the region’s defence and disarmament research ecosystem. Library catalogs commonly describe the journal as published in Santiago, Chile, tied to FLACSO and the Centro Latinoamericano de Defensa y Desarme (often referenced in catalog records as a responsible institution). In practice, that means the journal sits at the intersection of social science research and applied policy debate.
Publication history
A key detail for accurate research is the journal’s title history. Records indicate it was published from 1985 to 1988 under the name Defensa y Desarme, and later continued as Revista Fuerzas Armadas y Sociedad. If you are searching across decades, this matters because older indexing entries can be split across the earlier and later titles.
The journal is generally listed with the print ISSN 0717-1498. Some directories and indexes also note that the publication schedule has varied across time (different sources describe different periodicity), so for precise bibliographic work you should prioritize the year/volume/issue data in the issue itself.
Languages and accessibility
FASOC is rooted in the Spanish-language research community, and many issues and articles are published in Spanish. However, archival web versions and indexing pages may present navigation or metadata in English, and some records provide bilingual elements (for example, English-facing catalog entries or summaries).
The practical benefit for readers today is access: many older issues circulate through institutional repositories and library-linked archives, making it possible to cite historical debates, compare institutional reforms across countries, and track how “security” language evolved across political cycles.
How to cite FASOC correctly
When you cite an article, include: author, year, article title, journal title (Revista Fuerzas Armadas y Sociedad), volume/issue, page range, and the ISSN when required by your style guide. If you are working with pre-1989 material, check whether the issue is labeled Defensa y Desarme-and cite it under that title to avoid mismatched references.
Good citation hygiene is not optional here. In civil–military and defence studies, claims often become “common knowledge” without evidence. Accurate references are how you keep arguments testable and credible.