Greece: From Overt Military Activism to Democratic Normality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitris Tsarouhas
Keyword(s):  
Political Stability ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Civilian Leadership

Greek civil-military relations (CMR) have been fraught with tension and conflict for a long time, almost since the country’s independence in 1830. A high number of military coups and mutual mistrust between political elites and military officers characterized periods of civilian rule for most of the 20th century. However, and that is what makes the Greek case especially interesting, the restoration of democratic rule after the last military coup in 1967 has been both swift and successful. Ever since 1974, Greece’s CMR have stabilized along the archetypal examples of advanced Western democracies. Interpreting this impressive transformation of Greek CMR is an exercise that needs to bring together distinct factors: the country’s historical evolution, its political transformation, and its economic development. When in 1974 the Cyprus fiasco exposed the colonels’ regime as inept and incapable of defending the country’s national interests, the country was politically ready for a smooth transition to institutional normality. External factors, such as the prospect of European Union (EU) membership, assisted the country’s civilian leadership by offering Greece a path toward economic prosperity and political stability. For all of the country’s economic problems in the early 21st century, that path has been followed consistently ever since

Pakistan in 2010

Asian Survey ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Christine Fair
Keyword(s):  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Exit Strategy ◽  
Personal Power ◽  
Military Action ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Civilian Leadership ◽  
The U.S

The 2010 floods exacerbated Pakistan's lingering domestic weaknesses including fraught civil-military relations, perilous economic conditions, and the ineptitude of the civilian government. While a military coup is unlikely anytime soon, army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani continues to consolidate his personal power, despite his cultivated democratic credentials, and that of the army, at the expense of the civilian leadership. The differences in the strategic interests of Pakistan and the U.S. seem stark, especially as the latter seeks to develop an exit strategy that would permit a cessation of its military action in Afghanistan.

Reconsidering American Civil-Military Relations

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
New Technology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grey Zone ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Asymmetric Warfare ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Civilian Leadership

This book explores contemporary civil-military relations in the United States. Much of the canonical literature on civil-military relations was either written during or references the Cold War, while other major research focuses on the post-Cold War era, or the first decade of the twenty-first century. A great deal has changed since then. This book considers the implications for civil-military relations of many of these changes. Specifically, it focuses on factors such as breakdowns in democratic and civil-military norms and conventions; intensifying partisanship and deepening political divisions in American society; as well as new technology and the evolving character of armed conflict. Chapters are organized around the principal actors in civil-military relations, and the book includes sections on the military, civilian leadership, and the public. It explores the roles and obligations of each. The book also examines how changes in contemporary armed conflict influence civil-military relations. Chapters in this section examine the cyber domain, grey zone operations, asymmetric warfare and emerging technology. The book thus brings the study of civil-military relations into the contemporary era, in which new geopolitical realities and the changing character of armed conflict combine with domestic political tensions to test, if not potentially redefine, those relations.

Neither Victors nor Victims

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Whetham
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
High Street ◽  
National Survival ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Realistic Goal

Between 2007 and 2011, Wootton Bassett, a small Wiltshire town in the UK, became the focus of national attention as its residents responded to the regular repatriations of dead soldiers through its High Street. The town’s response came to symbolize the way that broader attitudes developed and changed over that period. As such, it is a fascinating case study in civil–military relations in the twenty-first century. Success may be the same as victory, but victory, at least as it has been traditionally understood, is not a realistic goal in many types of contemporary conflict. Discretionary wars—conflicts in which national survival is not an issue and even vital national interests may not be at stake—pose particular challenges for any government which does not explain why the cost being paid in blood and treasure is ‘worth it’.

To ‘midwife’ – and abort – a democracy: Mauritania's transition from military rule, 2005–2008

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boubacar N'Diaye
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political System ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

ABSTRACTThe 3 August 2005 military coup was Mauritania's best opportunity to turn the page on decades of the deposed quasi-military regime's destructive politics. This article critically analyses relevant aspects of the transition that ensued in the context of the prevailing models of military withdrawal from politics in Africa. It also examines the challenges that Mauritania's short-lived Third Republic faced. It argues that the transition process did not escape the well-known African military junta leader's proclivity to manipulate transitions to fulfil suddenly awakened self-seeking political ambitions, in violation of solemn promises. While there was no old-fashioned ballot stuffing to decide electoral outcomes, Mauritania's junta leader and his lieutenants spared no effort to keep the military very much involved in politics, and to perpetuate a strong sense of entitlement to political power. Originally designed as an ingenious ‘delayed self-succession’ of sorts, in the end, another coup aborted Mauritania's democratisation process and threw its institutions in a tailspin. This only exacerbated the challenges that have saddled Mauritania's political system and society for decades – unhealthy civil-military relations, a dismal ‘human rights deficit’, terrorism, and a neo-patrimonial, disastrously mismanaged economy.

Rwanda: Civil–Military Relations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Jowell
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
National Defense ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Practical Experiences ◽  
The One ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

The army has been a central part of Rwanda’s political system from the precolonial period until the early 21st century and is intrinsically part of the construction and politics of the state. Civil–military relations in Rwanda demonstrate not only the central features of transitioning a rebel group to a national defense sector but also how some states construct their armed forces after a period of mass violence. Since the civil war and genocide in the early 1990s, the Rwandan military has been the primary actor in politics, the economy, and state building as well as in regional wars in central Africa and the Great Lakes region. Practical experiences of guerrilla insurgency and conflict in Uganda and Rwanda, postconflict military integration, and the intertwining of political and economic agendas with the ruling party have shaped civil–military relations in Rwanda and have been central to how the Rwandan defense sector functions. Contemporary Rwandan civil–military relations center around the two elements of service delivery and control, which has resulted in the development of an effective and technocratic military in terms of remit and responsibilities on the one hand, and the creation of a politicized force of coercion on the other hand. The military in Rwanda therefore reflects the pressures and dynamics of the wider state and cannot be separated from it. The Rwandan army is thus a “political army” and is part and parcel of the political structures that oversee and govern the Rwandan state.

scholarly journals Analysis of Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan: Evidence from Leading English Newspapers

2019 ◽  
Vol IV (IV) ◽  
pp. 195-201
Author(s):  
Amna Zulfiqar ◽  
Zahid Yousaf
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
The Right ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Civilian Leadership ◽  
The Military

Civil-military relations in Pakistan are always in search of common ground. Historically, military forces and civilian leadership in Pakistan struggle to find the right balance and the civilian leadership has hardly commanded the gun. This study is intended to analyze that how the two selected daily English newspapers of Pakistan, i.e. Dawn and The News covered the major developments in civil-military relations, particularly during the regime of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, followed by the most sensitive event i.e., Zarb-e-Azb. The study employed the method of discourse analysis and has used the theoretical notion of agenda-setting and framing. The results of the study revealed that the slant, style, themes, and discourses used in the news stories of both the newspapers almost remained the same, appreciating the military institutions positively. Whereas condemning the civilian leadership for their lack of concern towards implementing the already approved Nation Action Plan.

scholarly journals Historical Analysis of Civil-Military Relations in Nepal

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Khadga K.C.
Keyword(s):  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Developing Democracies ◽  
Organizational Reform ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military ◽  
Democratic Norms

As like in other developing democracies, it is obvious that there are many CMR problems in Nepal. A lack of national security policies and common national interests, ignorance about security sensitiveness, political instability, parochialism, mistrust, are prominent factors contributing to Nepal’s adverse civil-military relations. However, the military though has already begun to tuning with democratic norms and values should further be engaged in serious organizational reform that includes among others; enhancing professionalism, further accountability, transparency and loyalty of army to the civilian authority follow by earliest promulgation of democratic constitution with the clear provision of democratic control over armed forces.

scholarly journals Reformasi di Kementerian Pertahanan RI

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beni Sukadis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Civilian Leadership ◽  
State Defense ◽  
The Military ◽  
Defense Reform

AbstrakReformasi bidang pertahanan yang dialami Indonesia sejak disahkan UU Pertahanan Negara dan UU TNI hingga kini belum selesai karena beberapa faktor yang cukup menghambat reformasi ini. Beberapa faktor yang menghambat, yaitu masih ada budaya paternalistik dalam birokrasi, masih ada ketidakjelasan kedudukan antara menteri pertahanan dan panglima TNI dalam pembagian wewenang khususnya terkait hubungan sipil-militer dan kepemimpinan sipil yang lemah dalam mengelola reformasi di Kementerian Pertahanan. Hingga saat ini implementasi supremasi sipil masih samar di Kementerian Pertahanan, walaupun secara faktual menteri pertahanan berasal dari sipil, tapi di sisi lain dominasi militer dalam jabatan pengambilan keputusan masih terjadi. Padahal supremasi sipil seharusnya direpresentasikan dalam wujud nyata bukan hanya dari hanya dari satu posisi pimpinan, yakni bagaimana otoritas sipil secara dominan dapat mengambil keputusan politik yang otonom sesuai dengan kebijakan negara yang dimandatkan oleh UU dan aturan yang ada.Kata kunci: reformasi pertahanan, hubungan sipil militer, supremasi sipil. Defense reform still underway since Indonesia passed the Law on State Defense and the TNI the reform law has not completed yet, because there are many factors that impede the reform process. Some of the factors are the paternalistic culture still exist in the bureaucracy, there is also ambiguity on the relations between the Defense Minister and the Commander of TNI in the division of labor especially to civil-military relations and weak civilian leadership in managing the reform at the Ministry of Defense. Until now, the implementation of civil supremacy within the Ministry is vague, although the ministers are civilian, but in fact the military domination in decision making process remains strong. Whereas, civil supremacy should not be exemplified on the top position, but the civilians authority take the lead in the decision making in accordance to the State Policy as stipulated by the law.Keywords: defense reform, civil-military, civilian supremacy.

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