How Post-colonial Armies Came About

Comparative Perspectives from Asia and Africa

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2308280
AutoresZoltan Barany (0000-0001-9485-1436, University of Texas, USA)
Ano2014
Volume49
Fascículo5
Páginas597-616
Data de publicação2014-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Asian and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-9096 • E-ISSN: 1745-2538
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0021909613507229
OpenAlexW2107451526
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas16

The creation of an army loyal to the state is one of the most important institutional tasks of post-colonial leaders. But how do novice political leaders develop the capacity to subordinate the armed forces to the authority of state institutions? This essay explains alternative methods of formulating post-colonial civil-military relations and explains why four states - India, Pakistan, Ghana, and Tanzania - took such different routes of institutional development. I make two arguments. Firstly, building armed forces that willingly acquiesce to state authority is always a critical issue of regime change - whether to democracy or some other form of government - though it is more difficult to accomplish in some contexts than others. Secondly, the political and socioeconomic contexts in which armies must be built are very different and thus pose dissimilar challenges and tasks to those crafting new armies and civil-military relations. I will assess the power of several variables to explain the disparate outcomes of the four cases: the quality of political leadership and leaders' approach to the armed forces, the strength of political institutions, ethno-religious and regional policies, civilian control mechanisms, military-societal relations, and foreign influence

Civil society · Civil–military relations · Colonialism · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Government (linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Traditional authority · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Law