Argentina

=== Armed forces ===
{{Main|Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic}}
[[File:A-4AR_Fightinghawk_2010.jpg|thumb|[[Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk]] operated by the [[Argentine Air Force]]]]
[[File:D13_ARA_Sarandi_DN-SC-91-01826.jpg|thumb|Argentine destroyer [[ARA Sarandí (D-13)|ARA ''Sarandí'' (D-13)]]]]

The president holds the title of commander-in-chief of the Argentine Armed Forces, as part of a legal framework that imposes a strict separation between national defense and internal security systems:<ref>{{cite Argentine law|l=23554 – Defensa Nacional|bo=26375|p=4|date=5 May 1988}}</ref><ref name=lsi>{{cite Argentine law|l=24059 – Seguridad Interior|bo=27307|p=1|date=17 January 1992}}</ref> The [[Argentine defense industry|National Defense System]], an exclusive responsibility of the federal government,{{sfn|Constitution of Argentina|loc=arts. 125–126}} coordinated by the [[Ministry of Defense (Argentina)|Ministry of Defense]], and comprising the [[Argentine Army|Army]], the [[Argentine Navy|Navy]] and the [[Argentine Air Force|Air Force]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/argentina/military_branches.html|title=Argentina – Military branches|publisher=Index Mundi – CIA World Factbook|year=2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103093751/http://www.indexmundi.com/argentina/military_branches.html|archive-date=3 November 2012|url-status = live}}</ref> Ruled and monitored by Congress{{sfn|Constitution of Argentina|loc=arts. 21, 75, 99}} through the Houses' Defense Committees,<ref name=resdal>{{cite web|url=http://www.resdal.org/ing/atlas/atlas12-ing-10-argentina.pdf|title=A Comparative Atlas of Defense in Latin America and Caribbean – Argentina|publisher=RESDAL – Red de Seguridad y Defensa de América Latina|place=Buenos Aires|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508122931/http://www.resdal.org/ing/atlas/atlas12-ing-10-argentina.pdf|archive-date=8 May 2014|url-status = live}}</ref> it is organized on the essential principle of legitimate self-defense: the repelling of any external military aggression in order to guarantee freedom of the people, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity.<ref name=resdal /> Its secondary missions include committing to multinational operations within the framework of the United Nations, participating in internal support missions, assisting friendly countries, and establishing a sub-regional defense system.<ref name=resdal />

[[Military service]] is voluntary, with enlistment age between 18 and 24 years old and no [[conscription]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/argentina/military_service_age_and_obligation.html|title=Argentina – Military service age and obligation|publisher=Index Mundi – CIA World Factbook|year=2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103093806/http://www.indexmundi.com/argentina/military_service_age_and_obligation.html|archive-date=3 November 2012|url-status = live}}</ref> Argentina's defense has historically been one of the best equipped in the region, even managing [[Argentine defense industry|its own weapon research facilities, shipyards, ordnance, tank and plane factories]].{{sfn|Maldifassi|Abetti|1994|pp=65–86}} However, real military expenditures declined steadily after the defeat in the [[Falklands War|Falklands/Malvinas War]] and the defense budget in 2011 was only about 0.74% of GDP, a historical minimum,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/argentina/military-expenditure|title=Argentina – Military expenditure|publisher=Index Mundi – SIPRI – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security|year=2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906190435/http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/argentina/military-expenditure|archive-date=6 September 2013|url-status = live}}</ref> below the Latin American average. Within the defence budget itself, funding for training and even basic maintenance has been significantly cut, a factor contributing to the [[Disappearance of ARA San Juan|accidental loss of the Argentine submarine San Juan]] in 2017. The result has been a steady erosion of Argentine military capabilities, with some arguing that Argentina had, by the end of the 2010s, ceased to be a capable military power.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/argentina-has-now-ceased-to-be-a-capable-military-power/|title=Argentina has now ceased to be a capable military power|publisher=UK Defence Journal|date=16 May 2018|last=Allison|first=George|access-date=6 January 2021|archive-date=14 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014050348/https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/argentina-has-now-ceased-to-be-a-capable-military-power/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Interior Security System]] is jointly administered by the federal and subscribing provincial governments.<ref name=lsi /> At the federal level it is coordinated by the Interior, [[Ministry of Defense (Argentina)|Security]] and Justice ministries, and monitored by Congress.<ref name=lsi /> It is enforced by the [[Argentine Federal Police|Federal Police]]; the [[Argentine Naval Prefecture|Prefecture]], which fulfills [[coast guard]] duties; the [[Argentine National Gendarmerie|Gendarmerie]], which serves [[border guard]] tasks; and the [[Airport Security Police (Argentina)|Airport Security Police]].<ref>{{cite Argentine law|d=18711 – Fuerzas de Seguridad|bo=21955|date=23 June 1970}}</ref> At the provincial level it is coordinated by the respective internal security ministries and enforced by local police agencies.<ref name=lsi />

Argentina was the only South American country to send warships and cargo planes in 1991 to the [[Gulf War]] under [[United Nations|UN]] mandate and has remained involved in [[peacekeeping]] efforts in multiple locations like [[UNPROFOR]] in [[Croatia]]/[[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]], [[Gulf of Fonseca]], [[United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus|UNFICYP]] in [[Cyprus]] (where among Army and Marines troops the Air Force provided the UN Air contingent since 1994) and [[MINUSTAH]] in [[Haiti]]. Argentina is the only Latin American country to maintain troops in [[Kosovo]] during [[SFOR]] (and later [[EUFOR]]) operations where [[Combat engineering|combat engineers]] of the Argentine Armed Forces are embedded in an [[Italian Army|Italian brigade]].

In 2007, an Argentine contingent including helicopters, boats and water purification plants was sent to help [[Bolivia]] against their worst floods in decades.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gacetamarinera.com.ar/index.php?SESID=662a1ef16ed420aeb93b117d1c4fabc6&mp_id=1&mp_op=1&seccion=principal&nota_id=3209|title=Gaceta Marinera – Portal Oficial de Noticias de la Armada Argentina|first=Armada|last=Argentina|website=Gacetamarinera.com.ar|access-date=3 December 2017|archive-date=13 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513095337/https://gacetamarinera.com.ar/?SESID=662a1ef16ed420aeb93b117d1c4fabc6&mp_id=1&mp_op=1&seccion=principal&nota_id=3209|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010 the Armed Forces were also involved in [[Humanitarian response by national governments to the 2010 Haiti earthquake|Haiti]] and [[Humanitarian response to the 2010 Chile earthquake|Chile]] humanitarian responses after their respective earthquakes.