Cincinnatus

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozan O. Varol
Keyword(s):  
Regime Change ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
Military Leaders ◽  
Absolute Power ◽  
Second Best ◽  
Turbulent Transition ◽  
Transitions To Democracy ◽  
Civilian Leaders ◽  
Elected Leaders ◽  
The Military

This chapter concludes the book. To summarize, in a democratic coup, militaries topple a dictator, assume absolute power during a temporary period, provide a steady hand during a turbulent transition, establish democratic procedures, and hand over power to elected leaders. Democratic does not mean unproblematic. All transitions to democracy, whether led by civilians or the military, are turbulent events and require a rethinking of our idealistic notions of success in moments of regime change. Ideally, of course, civilian, not military, leaders would spearhead democratic regime change. But civilian leaders are often unable to shoulder the momentous task of overthrowing an entrenched dictator without the help of the domestic military. Often the only hope for democracy is to turn the domestic military against the very dictatorship it’s tasked to defend. In our imperfect world, the second best may be the best we can do.

25. East Asia

2018 ◽  
pp. 401-420
Author(s):  
Doh Chull Shin ◽  
Rollin F. Tusalem
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
East Asian Region ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Transitions To Democracy

This chapter examines the processes of democratization in East Asia over the past two decades. It first provides a historical background on transitions to democracy in the region before assessing the extent to which third-wave democracies have consolidated by appraising the quality of their performances. Analyses of Freedom House and the World Bank data show that the East Asian region has been slow in responding to the surging wave of global democratization in terms of not only transforming authoritarian regimes into electoral democracies, but also consolidating electoral democracies into well-functioning liberal democracies. The Asian Barometer surveys, on the other hand, reveal that the mass citizenries of China and Singapore endorse their current regime as a well-functioning democracy, and are not much in favour of democratic regime change in their country. The chapter concludes with a discussion of prospects for democratic regime change in China and Singapore.

Myanmar government-military ties could be at risk

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Ethnic Minority Groups ◽  
Military Leaders ◽  
Internal Security ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Civilian Leaders ◽  
The Government ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

Significance The response underlines the military's continued internal security role but, given that the restive areas are home to large Rohingya populations, also highlights residual political sensitivity about the military's position and the importance of effective government-military relations. Impacts An immediate trigger for civil-military frictions could be a breakdown in peace negotiations with ethnic minority groups. The government will struggle to convince military leaders that wide concessions to armed ethnic groups are needed. Centralisation of power within the NLD will hamper junior civilian leaders gaining experience of working with the military. In time, the military's economic influence will be politically problematic for the NLD.

A New Order

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozan O. Varol
Keyword(s):  
New Order ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Adjustment Problems ◽  
Military Leaders ◽  
Transitions To Democracy ◽  
The Military

Most military officers make abysmal politicians. Military leaders are accustomed to commanding a disciplined group of soldiers who have been trained to toe the line. So they face significant adjustment problems in attempting to govern a much larger, unwieldy, and opinionated group of people with no inherent obligation to do as they say. Fed up with social disunity and chaos, the military leaders may take matters into their own hands by attempting to impose a new order from the top down. Although repression also occurs during civilian-led transitions to democracy, repression can be exacerbated at the hands of an armed military accustomed to discipline and ill-trained for governance. What’s more, there are often no legal mechanisms or institutions for holding the military leaders accountable, which can provide more room for misconduct.

A Matter of Trust

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-148
Author(s):  
Heidi Urben ◽  
James Golby
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
American People ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Military Leaders ◽  
Appropriate Behavior ◽  
The Public ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Civilian Leaders ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

After nearly two decades of war, public confidence in the US military remains high, even though our wars remain inconclusive. There is no shortage of public discourse on the perceived failures of civilians overseeing these wars. Yet this chapter asks: Is the uniformed military increasingly resistant to civilian oversight? Are members of the military making it tougher for political leaders to do their jobs? High public confidence in the military is neither the best measure of the health of civil-military relations nor the same thing as the military’s being trustworthy. This chapter argues that military leaders will best serve the public by focusing on ways they can exhibit appropriate behavior in their dealings with the public and civilian leaders. The trust required for healthy civil-military relations and effective civilian oversight is a two-way street, and those in uniform must recognize their responsibility for introspection, self-policing, and holding themselves to account. This chapter assesses what it might take for the armed forces to “screw up” their relationship with the American people, discussing five potential pitfalls that members of the profession of arms must avoid in order to be worthy of the public’s trust.

23. East Asia

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doh Chull Shin ◽  
Rollin F. Tusalem
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
East Asian Region ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Transitions To Democracy

This chapter examines the processes of democratization in East Asia over the past two decades. It first provides a historical background on transitions to democracy in the region before assessing the extent to which third-wave democracies have consolidated by appraising the quality of their performances. Analyses of Freedom House and the World Bank data show that the East Asian region has been slow in responding to the surging wave of global democratization in terms of not only transforming authoritarian regimes into electoral democracies, but also consolidating electoral democracies into well-functioning liberal democracies. The Asian Barometer surveys, on the other hand, reveal that the mass citizenries of China and Singapore endorse their current regime as a well-functioning democracy, and are not much in favour of democratic regime change in their country. The chapter concludes with a discussion of prospects for democratic regime change in China and Singapore.

In the Land of the Blind

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozan O. Varol
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
The Press ◽  
The One ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Military

This chapter explains why the military plays a decisive role in almost all revolutions and why, in some cases, the military may be the only actor available to ignite democratic regime change. An authoritarian regime extinguishes or significantly stifles the press, political opposition, civil society, and other reformist institutions, but it often leaves the military intact. The armed forces, after all, are necessary for the survival of most nations. As a result the military may be the one-eyed man in the land of the blind: the only available institution relatively independent of the dictatorship and capable of cracking its edifice.

scholarly journals Citizens and Soldiers in Archaic Athens

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans van Wees
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
Peloponnesian War ◽  
Working Population ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Precise Nature ◽  
Historical Tradition ◽  
The Military

A reconsideration of the precise nature and extent of the military obligations of citizens in classical Athens reveals that under Athens’ democratic regime these obligations were relatively limited and not systematically enforced. The relevant classical legislation, later historical tradition, and some contemporary archaic evidence are combined to show that in archaic Athens, by contrast, formal military obligations were more extensive and more stringently enforced, but applied only to the leisured elite. The bulk of the working population was also obliged to serve, but only in ‘general levies’, with whatever arms and armour they could afford. This system was fully developed already under Solon and remained in operation until the late fifth century BC, when social and economic changes and the exceptional strain of the Peloponnesian War caused it to be abandoned.

scholarly journals Spatial aspect of modern warfare: from traditional warfare to cyberwar

2021 ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Natalia Aleksandrovna Balakleets
Keyword(s):  
Military Leaders ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Total Destruction ◽  
Spatial Aspect ◽  
Pessimistic Scenario ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Military Activity ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
The Military

This author substantiates the thesis on the importance of spatial factors for conducting warfare. The article traces the evolution of warfare associated with the involvement of new territories and new types of spaces in the orbit of military activity. If the warfare of the past demonstrated a direct dependence on the geographical territory and the related “tensions” (C. von Clausewitz), the modern warfare are emancipated from the geographical shell of the Earth. The article explicates the factors that justify the need for arranging the new warfare spaces. Special attention is given to cyberspace, its structure, and conflicts unfolding therein. The scientific novelty of consists in the interpretation of cyberspace as an expected result of the spatial evolution of warfare. The conclusion is drawn that the emergence of cyberspace contributes to solution of the problem of information vagueness and creation of the stability zones for the military leaders, but at the same is a source of problems not less dangerous for the humanity. The cyberwar winner faces a tempting challenge of establishing global control over the territory of the plane using cyberweapon, or in most pessimistic scenario, its total destruction.

Effects of emerging leadership styles on engagement – a mediation analysis in a military context

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Ruiz Moreno ◽  
María Isabel Roldán Bravo ◽  
Carlos García-Guiu ◽  
Luis M. Lozano ◽  
Natalio Extremera Pacheco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Servant Leadership ◽  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Proactive Personality ◽  
Military Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis paper aims to report the findings of a study examining the relationship between different leadership styles and engagement through the mediating role of proactive personality.Design/methodology/approachServant leadership, paradoxical leadership, authentic leadership, employee engagement and proactive personality were assessed in an empirical study based on a sample of 348 military personnel in Spain. The questionnaire data were analyzed through SEM using EQS and bootstrapping analysis using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.FindingsThe results reveal that servant leadership style in officers partially impacts their cadets' engagement through proactive personality but that authentic and paradoxical leadership styles do not mediate the relationship. The authors also verify a direct relationship between proactive personality and engagement.Practical implicationsThe study implications advance the literature on leadership in emphasizing new leadership styles to increase proactive personality and engagement in the military context. This study verifies the importance of military leaders fostering servant leadership as an antecedent of proactive personality. Finally, the authors show that servant leadership partially impacts engagement through proactive personality.Originality/valueThis study explores the relationship among servant, paradoxical and authentic leadership styles, proactive personality, and engagement – relationships that have not been explored theoretically and tested empirically in the military context.

Sudan stand-off will persist beyond Hamdok’s exit

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Military Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Limited Impact ◽  
International Sanctions ◽  
The Military

Significance His departure is ostensibly a blow for Sudan’s military leaders and a symbolic victory for Sudanese calling for the military to leave power. However, the stand-off between the two groups remains fundamentally unchanged. Impacts If leaders cannot find enough civilians to form a cabinet, they may offer some posts to serving or retired military. Protests and possible strike action will continue but may have only limited impact, unless rising casualties trigger a new flashpoint. Significant new international sanctions are unlikely to materialise.

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