Brian Loveman is professor emeritus of political science at San Diego State University and author or editor of more than twenty books on Latin American history and politics, inter-American relations, and U.S. foreign policy. In 2009 he received Chileas highest award given to noncitizens, the Condecoracion de la Orden al Merito de Chile, en el Grado de Gran Oficial.

Few scholars have devoted themselves more to understanding the issue of civil-military relations in Latin America than Brian Loveman . . . . No other work today matches its cohesiveness and breadth, which enhance its appeal to the general reader and the student alike.