War and (the Democratic) Peace

Military Service, Citizenship, and the International Environment

Bibliographic Data

ID4852154
AuthorsEverett Carl Dolman (Berry College, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume4
Issue2
Pages117-147
Publication date2000-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-1025 • E-ISSN: 1469-3593
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13621020050078050
OpenAlexW1997224693
LanguageEN
References cited110

Is there a significant relationship between military structure and political liberalization? If so, can military structure and organization be manipulated to influence the process of democratization for the purpose of enhancing inter-state peace? To test the implications of these questions, I will investigate a decidedly contentious premise. Military factors traditionally considered destabilizing in the international environment (to include large, well-trained armed forces organized for offensive or out-of-country operations) have, at critical junctions in the Western experience, had a distinctly positive impact on the emergence and maintenance of the liberal democratic state. If this is indeed the case, and liberal democracy can be shown structurally and normatively to produce inter-state peace, then the preferred policy of peace-desiring states should be to promote and implement military reform at home and abroad that most efficiently generates democratic structures and values, regardless of intuitive fears of international instability. In short, I will argue that if liberal democratic states do not go to war with each other, then the size, proficiency, and strength of their military forces should not be a security dilemma issue

Citizenship · Democracy · Democratization · Economics · Epistemology · International relations · Management · Military science · Military service · Military theory · Military threat · Offensive · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Premise · Security Dilemma · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security