Personalist dictators and the choice of military intervention in civil conflicts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Adriana M. Boersner H.
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
World Politics ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Civil Conflicts ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Hugo Chavez ◽  
The Military

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Are all personalist dictators equally prone to intervene in civil conflicts? The current bulk of work on authoritarianism and international relations shows that personalist autocrats are more prone to be hawkish in foreign policy when compared, for example, to military dictators. What is missing, however, is a better understanding as to whether different personalist dictators behave similarly to one another in world politics. In this study, I argue that not all personalist dictators behave in the same way on military intervention due to the interaction between their personality traits and the military capabilities available to them. Drawing on an original dataset on personalist dictators' personality traits, I employ leadership trait analysis - using 386,510 words of text and 1,580 documents from twenty dictators in the period between 1990 and 2009. I find that personality traits do indeed matter for leaders' choices to intervene militarily abroad. Specifically, I show that dictators' level of sensitivity to advice and information (conceptual complexity) in interaction with military capabilities is a significant factor shaping whether they send weapons or deploy troops into a civil conflict abroad. I illustrate my findings and the mechanisms with one case study: Hugo Chavez and his decision to support the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -FARC).

Threat Construction and Military Intervention in Internal Security: The Political Use of Terrorism and Drug Trafficking in Contemporary Argentina

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 10-24
Author(s):  
Jorge Battaglino
Keyword(s):  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
The Political ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Internal Security ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
The Military

Argentina has a deeply rooted tradition of rejecting participation by the military in internal security and legislation that prohibits such involvement. The current construction of a threat from drug trafficking and terrorism and the proposal of intervention by the armed forces to contend with them is the result of a narrative justifying the implementation of various government policies. Exploration of the mechanism of discursive threat construction, or securitization, from the critical perspective of the Copenhagen School demonstrates how security discourse and practices allow actors and institutions to mobilize resources, control agendas, and use violence with greater discretion. Argentina tiene una arraigada tradición de rechazo a la participación de los militares en temas de seguridad interna y posee, además, una legislación que prohíbe tal involucramiento. La construcción actual de la amenaza del narcotráfico y el terrorismo y la propuesta de intervención de las fuerzas armadas para enfrentarlas son el resultado de un discurso que es funcional a la implementación de distintas políticas por parte del gobierno. Una examinación de la dinámica de la construcción discursiva de la amenaza, o la securitización, a partir de la perspectiva crítica de la Escuela Copenhague evidencia cómo el discurso y las prácticas de la seguridad permiten a actores e instituciones movilizar recursos, controlar agendas y utilizar la violencia con mayor discrecionalidad.

Mali: The Hot and Cold Relationship Between Military Intervention and Democratic Consolidation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florina Cristiana Matei
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Military Presence ◽  
State Governance ◽  
The Military

Many African countries are praetorian states in which the armed forces routinely meddle with politics, and hence defy civilian supremacy over the military. Mali—a noncoastal country in West Africa, with a population of 14.5 million inhabitants—is no exception. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Mali has been a praetorian state, as the armed forces have frequently intervened in politics. As such, Mali has experienced four successful military coups (in 1968, 1991, 2012, and 2020). These coups have been caused by an array of interconnected and often overlapping factors, including the following: state formation and the relationship between the military and state institutions; legacies of the colonial times; the dynamic political and security context in north Mali; precarious state governance; history of military intervention in politics; and ineffective international aid and assistance. Mali’s on-and-off relationship with the military intervention in politics has had both positive and negative effects to the surrounding society. If the 1968 military intervention in politics was nothing more than a replacement of an authoritarian regime with another—equally deleterious to the country and its citizens—the other three interventions clearly illustrate how coups can both facilitate and jeopardize democratic consolidation. Certainly, the 1991 coup led to democratization while the 2012 and 2020 coups arrested democratic progress. As a result, Mali’s political institutions in the early 21st century are weak, corrupt, fighting one another, and incapable of governing while the security situation is perilous, despite more than seven years of external military and regional military presence.

scholarly journals Trust in the military in post-authoritarian societies

2020 ◽  
pp. 001139212096976
Author(s):  
Carlos Solar
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Military Sociology ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Violence ◽  
The Military ◽  
Significant Factors

Why does the military remain one of the most trusted institutions despite, in some cases, their history of violence, corporate abuses and bloody interventions to overthrow the state and punish parts of society? This article analyses the interaction between individual factors and support for the armed forces in Argentina, Brazil and Chile to understand current forms of opinion and trust-shifts in post-authoritarian societies. It explores whether in these three democracies, support for the military is explained by the extent to which citizens support other political institutions, democracy, partisan ideologies, and novel military missions, such as the armed forces combating crime. The empirical results suggest that trust in congress and the police are statistically significant factors explaining variance in the outcome in the three case studies. The findings then vary by country. Support for democracy is positively correlated with trust in the military in Brazil but negatively associated with confidence in the military in Chile, where support for military intervention when there are increasing levels of crime is also statistically significant with confidence in the armed forces. In both Brazil and Chile, individuals supporting the armed forces are more likely to support the military participating in countering crime. These findings have important implications for the study of military sociology and politics.

scholarly journals La revista Reconquista. La legitimación del intervencionismo militar como solución al terrorismo (1978-1981) = The Reconquista magazine: The legitimization of military interventionism as a solution to terrorism (1978-1981)

2019 ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Laura González Piote
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Information Services ◽  
Editorial Team ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
The Military

Resumen: En el presente trabajo se mide la importancia que tuvo el terrorismo en la revista militar Reconquista. Y se analiza el tratamiento que determinados miembros del equipo de la revista realizaron sobre este tema. La finalidad es comprobar si en Reconquista se llevó a cabo una estrategia en torno al terrorismo para legitimar una intervención militar, entre junio de 1978 y marzo de 1981. La fuente principal es la propia revista, que se complementa con otras fuentes: memorias y entrevistas personales realizadas a algunos de sus miembros y a jefes de los servicios de información. Se realizan dos análisis, uno cuantitativo y otro cualitativo de los editoriales y artículos de opinión.Palabras clave: Fuerzas Armadas, golpe de Estado, intervencionismo militar, prensa militar, terrorismo.Abstract: This paper considers the importance of terrorism in the military magazine Reconquista, and analyses the treatment of this topic by certain members of the editorial team. The purpose of this research is to verify whether Reconquista was used to carry out a strategy with regards to terrorism to legitimize a military intervention, from June 1978 to March 1981. The main source for this research is the magazine, and additional sources include memoirs and personal interviews of magazine staff members and information services officers. Two analyses are conducted: a quantitative analysis and a qualitative analysis of editorials and opinion articles.Keywords: Armed forces, coup d'etat, military interventionism, military press, terrorism.

Successful or Counterproductive Coercion? The Effect of International Sanctions on Conflict Intensity

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1315-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Hultman ◽  
Dursun Peksen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Civil Conflicts ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Human Cost ◽  
Arms Embargo ◽  
International Sanctions ◽  
The Military

Despite the frequent use of economic and military-specific sanctions against countries affected by civil conflicts, little is known about the possible impact that these coercive tools have on conflict dynamics. This article examines how threats and imposition of international sanctions affect the intensity of civil conflict violence. We formulate and test two competing views on the possible effect of economic and military-specific sanctions on conflict dynamics by combining data on fatalities in battle-related violence in all internal armed conflicts in Africa from 1989 to 2005 with data on economic sanctions and arms embargoes. The results indicate that threats of economic sanction and arms embargo are likely to increase the intensity of conflict violence. Similarly, imposed economic sanctions are likely to contribute to the escalation of conflict violence. Imposed arms embargoes, on the other hand, are likely to reduce conflict violence. We conclude that international sanctions appear to be counterproductive policy tools in mitigating the human cost of civil conflicts unless they are in the form of imposed arms embargoes attempting to limit the military capacity of the warring parties.

The Military and Society in Greece

1974 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Brown
Keyword(s):  
Military Intervention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
The Military

In this century military intervention in the political arena on the part of the Greek armed forces has been, either directly or indirectly, the rule and not the exception (i). The forms of and the motivations for this political activism have varied greatly, but in spite of the often decisive effects of their intervention in political affairs the Greek military and the reasons for their intervention have not been studied in any serious or systematic manner.

Churches and Human Rights in Latin America: Recent Trends in the Subcontinent

1979 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian H. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
South American ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Military

Over the past fifteen years the military have seized power in most major South American countries, leaving only Colombia and Venezuela with democratic regimes. The armed forces claim that only they are capable of controlling the domestic violence and social disruptions which accompanied the rapid political and economic changes of the 1960s. This process of social conflict and subsequent military intervention has been especially notable in the countries of the subcontinent region—Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay.

THE EFFECT OF THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR ON THE MILITARY MEN VALUE BASED ORIENTATION FORMING

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
ALEXEY ROMAKHIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Russian Army ◽  
Religious Factor ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Military

This article reveals the problem of the role of the religious factor in the formation of the value orientations of the military personnel of the Russian army from its inception to the present state. In the article, the author reveals the significance of the Church in the formation of the value orientations of military personnel. The problem of religious situation in foreign armies is considered. The article presents data from sociological studies confirming the increase in the number of religious servicemen in the modern Armed Forces. The concept of “religious factor” is revealed. The author suggests considering the influence of the religious factor on the formation of value orientations through the functions of religion. The article provides examples of the influence of religion on the formation of value orientations of military personnel from the time of the Baptism of Russia to the present. Examples of writers of Russian classical literature about the influence of religion on the morale of troops are given. Examples of religious participation in major battles and wars of the past years are shown. The significance of the religious factor in uniting the people and the army is shown. The work of officials of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation in strengthening values among military personnel in modern conditions is demonstrated. The role of the Minister of defense of the Russian Federation, General of the army S.K. Shoigu in strengthening the faith of the Russian army is outlined. Issues related to the construction of the Main Temple of the Armed Forces and its impact on the public masses were discussed. In this study, the author aims to show the significant role of religion in the formation of value orientations in Russian military personnel. The analysis shows an increasing role of religion in the minds of military personnel in modern conditions.

STRUCTURAL AND LOGIC DIAGRAM OF RESEARCH ON THE MILITARY-ECONOMIC SUBSTANTIATION OF THE RATIONAL NUMBER OF ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE IN THE PROCESS OF FORMING THE PROGRAM OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 102-110
Author(s):  
V. Nazarkin ◽  
O. Semenenko ◽  
A. Efimenko ◽  
V. Ivanov
Keyword(s):  
Rational Number ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The State ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Scientific Substantiation ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Excess Number ◽  
The Military

The task of choosing the rational number of power structures is always one of the main priorities of any political leadership of the state. An insufficient number of armed forces is a threat to the national security of the state; an excess number creates pressures on the development of the country's national economy. Today, when the development programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being formed in the context of the practical application of their units and subunits to carry out combat missions, questions of choosing a priority approach to the formation (justification) of the rational size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is an urgent issue. The article proposes a structure for conducting research on the development and implementation of the methodology of military-economic substantiation of the rational strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the system of defense planning of Ukraine in the formation of programs for their development for the medium and long term. The main objectives of this methodology are: scientific substantiation of the range of the necessary strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the period of the program of their development; the choice of the indicator of the rational size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine according to the years of the program from a certain range of its changes; military-economic substantiation of this number under the influence of various limiting factors. The development and implementation of such a methodology will increase the efficiency of the formation and implementation of development programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the efficiency of using public funds for the development of power structures.

MATERIAL RESOURCES IN THE MILITARY LOGISTICS SYSTEM

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 21-27
Author(s):  
V. Makhankov ◽  
A. Maltsev ◽  
A. Kupriniuk ◽  
V. Obertas
Keyword(s):  
Inventory Management ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Logistics System ◽  
Military Logistics ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
Organization And Management ◽  
Material Separation ◽  
The Military ◽  
Military Units

The current stage of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AF) confirms that the crisis in the country's economy has significantly affected the system of logistics of troops, which ensures its main task – to maintain the combat readiness of military units and ensure their livelihood in peacetime. The war in the east of the country and the existing state of providing troops showed the need to improve the organization and management of the process of logistical (technical, rear and medical) provision of training and combat use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is currently in the phase of perspective changes and necessitates the development of a new concept of military information management and logistical flows, which will be implemented by a new, more efficient structure, called the "military logistics system". The purpose of the article is to determine the directions for the creation and accumulation of an optimal nomenclature of stocks of material resources in peacetime and their rational separation at the tactical, operational and strategic levels of management. The article describes the contents of the concepts of "logistics", "echelon", "stocking", "operational accounting". Important tasks of modern conditions of process of creation and management of stocks in the course of reforming of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are systematized; variants of the offered models of inventory management are outlined. The goal is achieved through theoretical and experimental research on volume optimization and material separation at all levels of management, which is one of the key problems of military logistics.

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