Lecture 5: 'The role of the military in developing nations.'

Question 1

what are the Three main explanations for military interventions in developing countries?

Answer 1

Internal: characteristics of the military
External: broader political environment
Coup-proofing

Question 2

what is the Internal characteristics: the nature of the armed forces?

Answer 2

 Internal characteristics of the military (the nature of the armed forces): strong internal
cohesion, clarity of purpose, internal orientation in training vs. external orientation, and the correlation between the level of civilian control over the military with the level of external threat a country faces.

If there is a high internal threat and a low external threat then the military becomes dangerous for civilian governments. However, if there is a higher external threat then the military will be less involved with the politics in the country itself.
An important example is Mexico, they are facing a higher internal threat e.g drugs than an external threat.

Question 3

what are the External causes (a broader political environment?

Answer 3

Firstly, there is little correlation between a country having ‘fire power’ + a large army with there being coup d’etats or not. A large army does not necessarily mean that coups are more likely. For example, Africa has one of the smallest militaries however, they have a higher number of coups as well as incidents of military rule.
Secondly, there is a correlation between military intervention and the weakness / strength of civilian political institutions. When there are strong civilian political institutions it is less likely for the military to have a big influence or attempt a coup d’etats. Stability in the political area is key, and this is also what Samuel Huntington believed.
- Thirdly, civilian governments are more secure if civilian society is stronger.
- Fourthly, the civilian government has to be entrenched within society, meaning that it has to involve various factors both in a political and economical perspective.
- Fiftly, the picture of the military is of utmost importance. What is the history of the country with their military? Has it been a negative influence? Or has it been a positive influence, e.g. rebuilding after decolonization?
Sixthly, there is a correlation between the economic wealth of a country and the military intervention. For exa

Question 4

3 types of coups?

Answer 4

Reformist break-through coup

Guardian coup

Veto coup

Question 5

Reformist break-through coup

Answer 5

This coup is led by officers with a relatively humble background. They seek to break the power of the established oligarchs and the elites (‘reforming’).

Question 6

Guardian coup

Answer 6

The military that acts to protect its own immediate interests and the government they are attached to.

Question 7

Veto coup

Answer 7

Led by generals who protect the established social order and slow down the ‘need for change’.

Question 8

Political orientation of the military

Answer 8

 Officers tend to come from middle-class backgrounds. The middle class most likely looks down on the elitist. However, when the left-wing party in politics gets more power and there is an emerging unrest in society there will be a allyship between the middle class and the upper class. Because stability is the core idea.

 LDCs, MNC’s landowners as obstruction to their own rise for the middle class. Example Marixst military movements (left-wing) : Angola, Mozambique, Peru,Libya.

 More industrialized developing nations with more mobilized poor and rise of trade unions, the middle class can see the ‘galvanized’ poor as a threat rather than an ally. Example of this : Chile, Brazil.

Question 9

4 types of military regimes

Answer 9

Personalistic regime
Institutional Military regime

Bureaucratic Authoritarian regime

Revolutionary Military regime

Question 10

Personalistic regime

Answer 10

 Most common in LDCs (less development countries).
 Power seizing for personal enhancement/enrichment.
 Historically very prominent in Sub-Saharan Africa.
 Example countries : Afghanistan, Latin-America, Carribean.
Example leaders : Anastasio Somoza Senior (Nicaragua), Fulgencio Batista (Cuba),
Sese Seko (Congo).

Question 11

Institutional military regime

Answer 11

 Officers hold influential government positions.

 Degree of institutional and technocratic decision making.

 Usually headed by ‘junta’ (e.g : Ethiopia, Thailand). Sometimes teamed with civilian technocrats forming political parties (e.g : Syria, Egypt).

Question 12

The Bureaucratic authoritarian regime

Answer 12

 more extensive bureaucratic structure with like-minded civilian technocrats.

 close relations between economic and political actors.

 aimed at depoliticizing society, crushing union and left wing political parties,
controlling inflation, and extending the role of the private sector.

Question 13

The Revolutionary military regime

Answer 13

 extending political and economic participation to formerly excluded groups.

 SSA policies of cultural nationalism, anti-imperialism, peasant mobilization.
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Example leader = Mengistu, from Ethiopia.

Question 14

Accomplishments and failures of militaristic regimes

Answer 14

the military can deal with corruption. However, corruption is usually not diminished but can increase due instability. When looking at the long term effects, we can state that military regimes are as corrupt as their predecessors.

The second claim is that the military can advance the military’s own corporate interest.

The third claim is budgetary gains for the armed forces. A military regime spends more than a country can actually afford which means that investments in social and economic areas are reduced.

The military can indeed bring order and stability in the short term, when a country is facing difficulties. However, in the long term the journey to order and stability which is led by the military government will cause many humans their lives because the military is not experienced when it comes to long term solutions.

The fifth claim is about improving the economy-simplified procedures (e.g. South-Korea, Indonesia). However, because they lack expertise and often are wasteful and rather spend more resources for their own benefit it is not beneficial to have a military government in the long run (Argentina, Uruguay).

Question 15

Four ways in which the military can withdraw from a country’s political system.

Answer 15

1. Domestic protests vs International intervention.
2. Voluntary stepping down.
3. Mostly seen as quick caretakers that return power to civilian government.
4. The worsening of ethnic tensions.

Question 16

New roles for the military

Answer 16

anti-drug trafficking, anti-terrorism, emergency relief, regional forces, humanitarian action, civic action, epidemics/diseases, UN PKO.