CHAPTER 18.

Militaries and Political Forces

Security is the deepest and most abiding issue in politics; linked to pursuit of order and establishment of relative peace
and stability among individuals and groups; commonly resolved in domestic realm by the existence of a sovereign state,
and roles of the institutions of the coercive state: police and military

SECURITY BEYOND BOUNDARIES?

Security as the absence of danger, fear or anxiety; from inside of politics: refers to the states capacity to maintain
order within its own borders (coercive state: police and military), deals with the relationship between the state and
non-state actorslegitimate violence; from outside of politics: refers to capacity of state to provide protection
against threats from beyond its own borderssecurity traditionally dealt with the states relationships with other
states
Sovereigntyno power higher than the stateconflict with international politicsit becomes anarchical (lacks
enforceable rules or pre-eminent power)
DOMESTIC SECURITY
The Police and Politics

o The Police
Lies at the heart of the coercive state; maintains domestic order; came into existence in the 19th
century as a result of industrialization
difference with military-- Has a routine and everyday involvement in public life; closely integrated into
society than is the military; use non-military tactics
modern developments tend to blur the distinction between the police and the military

o Nature of Policing and Roles of the Police

1.) Liberal Approach neutral body; uphold rule of law; protect individuals from each other; enjoy a high
measure of legitimacy and operate within a broad consensus; policing promotes social stability and
personal security; no broader political function
2.) Conservative Approach mechanism of political control; preserve authority of the state and ensure its
jurisdiction extends throughout the community; pessimistic view of human nature; enforcement agency
capable of controlling social unrest and civil disorder
3.) Radical critical view of police power; police as tools of oppression; serve the interest of elites over
masses, and state over the people; defenders of property and upholders of capitalist class interests
(Marxist view)

Roles can be shaped by the nature of political systems and the ways in which government uses the
police
Civil policing tends to be distinguished from political policing and divisions are usually identified
between liberal states and so-called police states
Role of the Police:
Civil policing enforcement of criminal law; exists to fight crime
o Has an international characteradvent of major transnational criminal organizations associated in particular
with drug-trafficking and people-trafficking
o Widely accepted that as societies become more fragmented and large scale organization depersonalizes
relationships and interaction, significant level of self-policing changes
o Spread of industrialization in the 20th century brought about a measure of convergence in police organization
and tactics
 o Community policingconstant police presence in the community seeks to build trust and cooperation with the
public; operated in Japan
o fire brigade policingcapacity of police to react to breaches of law when they occur, in the hope that crime
will be prevented by the effectiveness of police response; requires adoption of harder, even paramilitary
tactics, and greater emphasis on technology and arms
o zero tolerance or positive policingbased on broken windows theory; relies on a strategy of strict
enforcement in relation to minor offences in order to reduce levels of serious crime
Political policing
Carried out in accordance with political biases or social prejudices that favor certain groups
more than others; raised by radicals and socialists who dismiss the idea that police forces are
neutral; breeds a culture that is socially authoritarian and politically conservative
May extend beyond civil matters and impact on specifically political disputes
Level of political policing has increased as societies have become more complex and
fragmented
All crime is political
Civil liberties have been compromised through the emergence of a national security state
Civil liberty: private sphere of existence that belongs to the citizen, not the state

Police State state that relies on a system of arbitrary and indiscriminate policing in which civil liberties are routinely
abused; operates outside a legal framework and is accountable to neither the courts nor the general public; have
totalitarian features; instrument to instill fear and intimidation; police force acts as a private army and in the interests
of a ruling elite

The Military and Politics

o Development of modern armed forces can be traced back to the period following the Middle Ages when
European powers started to develop a standardized form of military organization
o Political institution of a very particular kind
o Role/Functions of the Militarywhat distinguishes military from other institutions
As an instrument of war
- Monopoly of weaponry and substantial coercive power
- Militarys loyalty is needed for state survival
Armed forces are tightly organized and highly-disciplined bodies
- Characterized by a hierarchy of ranks, making it an extreme example of bureaucracy
Military is invariably characterized by a distinctive culture and set of values, and an esprit de corps
- Prepare personnel to fight, kill or die
- Can be grounded in creeds such as revolutionary socialism or Islamic fundamentalism
Military generally regard themselves as above politics
- They are repository of national interest
o Character of particular armed forces is shaped by internal and external factors (history and traditions of
military, nature of broader political system, political culture and values of regime itself

GUARANTEE OF DOMESTIC ORDER

Can be a decisive factor in domestic politics
Help people during disasters/calamities; rescue
Police domestic civil disturbances or disputesmay compromise traditional neutrality of the armed forces; highlights
the difficulty of distinguishing between the domestic use of the military as a public instrument serving national
interest, and its use as a political weapon furthering the partisan goals of the government of the day
AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO CIVILIAN RULE
Capacity to intervene directly in domestic politics can lead to the establishment of military rule
A feature of military rule is that armed forces displace civilian politicians
There are circumstances that push them to be political even though they are supposed to be neutral or apolitical/serve
state than leader.
It is difficult for military rule to exist in a stable and enduring political form
Military regimes are typically characterized by the suspension of civil liberties, and the suppression of all potential
sources of popular involvement in politics

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
International security: conditions in which the mutual survival and safety of the states is secured through measures
taken to prevent aggression; central position in the broader academic discipline of international relations
State sovereignty in international realm implies disorder and possibly chaos

Approaches to International Politics

1. Realist Approach
Realism: theory of international politics whose core theme can be summed up as: egoism plus anarchy equal
power politics
Has been the dominant perspective on international politics since World War II
Offers an account of international politics as realisticrealists see it as devoid of wishful thinking and deluded
moralizing; it is about power and self-interest
Often portrayed as a power politics model of world affairspursuit of power is the principal human goal
Theory of power politics is based on two assumptions:
i. People are essentially selfish and competitiveegoism as the defining characteristic of human nature;
human egoism implying state egoism; each state pursuing their national interestcan lead to conflict
or war
Neorealist or structural realistsexplained the behavior of states on the basis of assumptions about the
structure of international system, and the fact that in the absence of world government, the international
system is characterized by anarchy; system tends towards tension and conflictleads to the creation of self-
help (building up of military power)
Major threats of security come from other states; national security is linked to prevention of wars
Conflict can be contained by the balance of power:
i. Classical realistmust be embraced as a policy which uses diplomacy or war to prevent any state from
achieving a predominant position in the international system
ii. Neorealistviews it as a system rather than policy; condition where no one state predominates over
others; create general equilibrium
2. Liberal approach
Optimistic vision of international politics based on the belief in human rationality and moral goodness
Draws on an older tradition of so-called idealist theorizingKants belief universal and perpetual peace
Principles of balance or harmony operates in all forms of social interaction
States may pursue self-interest but a natural equilibrium will tend to assert itself
Inclines liberals to believe in internationalism
Liberals do not believe that peace and international order simply arise entirely on their ownmechanisms are
needed to constrain the ambitions of sovereign states international regimes or international organizations
reflect the idea of liberal institutionalism
Only the construction of a sovereign power can safeguard citizens from chaos and barbarity of the state of
nature (social contract theory)
 Positive trend towards global governancealso collective security(aggression can be best resisted by united
action taken by a number of states
3. Critical approaches
Marxism has constituted the principal alternative to mainstream realist and liberal theories emphasis on
structures of economic power and the role played in world affairs by international capital
Constructivism, critical theory, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, feminism, and green politicsshared
antipathy towards mainstream thinking
Constructivism has been the most influential post-positivist approach to international theoryargue that
interactions between states are mediated by beliefs, values, assumptions that structure both how states see
themselves and how they understand and respond to structures within which they operatestate behavior is
not determined by the structural dynamics of international anarchy but by how they view that anarchy
Feministscriticized the realist view; it is premised on masculinist assumptions about rivalry, competition and
inevitable conflict; argues that conventional idea of national security tends to be self-defeating as a result of
the security paradox
NEW SECURITY CHALLENGES
From Traditional Wars to New Wars
International security has usually implied a search for the conditions in which traditional, inter-state wars can be ended
or prevented
War has been seen as an instrument of state policy, means through which states gained ascendancy over one another,
since the birth of modern international system through the Peace of Westphalia
new wars tend to be civil wars rather than inter-state wars; civil wars have been common in postcolonial world
Point where domestic security becomes entangled with international security as the only effective protection for the
domestic population may come from external sources in the form of humanitarian intervention
new wars often pose a wider and more profound threat to civilian populations than did the inter-state wars of old
Civilian/military divide has been blurred in a variety of waysguerilla tactics and insurgency; civilian populations being
target of military action; changing nature of armies and security forces
new wars have become more barbaric and horrific than old ones

Transnational terrorism
Terrorism had a nationalist orientation(post-1945 period)
It has acquired a transnational, even global dimension.
Transnational terrorism is generally associated with the advance of globalizationtakes advantage of increased cross-
border flows of people, goods, money, technology, and ideascatastrophic terrorism or hyper-terrorism
3 reasons
o An increased emphasis has been placed on terrorist tactics that are particularly difficult to defend against,
notably suicide terrorism
o Potential scope and scale of terrorism has greatly increased as a result of modern technology
o Modern terrorists not only have access to weapons of mas destruction but also have a greater willingness to
use them
3 main counter-terrorism strategies:
o Revision and strengthening of arrangement for state security- extending legal powers to govt
o Use of force-based or repressive counter-terrorism war on terror
o Use of political deals to encourage terrorists to abandon violence by drawing them into a process of
negotiation and diplomacy
NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
Nuclear ageborn on August 6, 1945 when the USA dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima
Issue of nuclear proliferation being at the forefront of international security
Cold warfirst nuclear age
 second nuclear agemore troubling than the first
Rogue state- foreign policy is a threat to neighboring states

HUMAN SECURITY
Human security: refers to the security of individuals, rather than states; recast the concept of security by taking on
board the idea of human development; takes account of non-military sources of insecuritylack of an assured basic
income, inadequate access to basic food and environmental degradation within the international security agenda
Encouraged the international community to assume a more interventionist stancegreater willingness to undertake
humanitarian interventions since early 1990s
Criticisms:
o Human security has deepened and widened the concepts of security to such an extent that it has become
virtually meaninglessfrom freedom from fear to freedom from want
o May create false expectations about the international communitys capacity to eradicate violence and
insecurity