See What Happens When A Country That Has No Military Has a Dispute With a Nation That Does? The Non-Militarized Country Gets Invaded

The border dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is an example of why a military force is necessary.

The two Central American counties have had a dispute for many years about a piece of land that runs along their common border.  It belongs to Costa Rica and has been recognized as Costa Rican territory by the international community.  A couple of weeks ago Google Maps showed that it was Nicaraguan territory, and Nicaragua used the mistake as a pretext to invade Costa Rica to enforce its claim of the area in question.

Since Costa Rica has no military, it cannot repel the Nicaraguans on its own, or keep the Nicaraguans from occupying the rest of Costa Rica if they so please.

This is an illustration of why a military force is necessary and that not having a well-disciplined military which obeys its elected leaders is a bad idea.  The time has not yet come to beat the swords into plowshares either; there are too many aggressors in the world who are willing to  use force to settle their disputes.

It can be argued that Costa Rica has been at peace without a military for many years; and that was true.  But it’s not exactly helping them right now, is it?

All Costa Rica can do now is take this dispute to the U.N. and the International Court and see 1) if they can win a decision and 2) if Nicaragua will heed the decision should the case go in favor of Costa Rica.