Military influence in foreign policy-making

Changing dynamics in North African regimes

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3979277
AutoresZoltan Barany (0000-0001-9485-1436, Department of Government, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume24
Fascículo4
Páginas579-598
Data de publicação2019-07-04
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13629387.2018.1525004
OpenAlexW2890627084
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas25

The strong political position armed forces enjoy in authoritarian states and the high priority military elites assign to foreign affairs would lead one to believe that in North Africa – a region made up of authoritarian states with the sole, recent, and partial exception of Tunisia – generals had the political standing to exert a major influence on foreign policy decisions. This would not be a correct assumption because in this region the armed forces' political influence is actually highly variable. Of the five states analysed in this article (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) the military is the dominant political institution only in Algeria and Egypt. In the other three countries, the army plays a marginal political role and, by extension, possesses modest foreign policy influence. Moreover, the political clout of these armies is not constant. Since the Arab Spring the political influence of Egyptian generals has considerably increased, that of their Tunisian colleagues has marginally risen, while the status of Libya's military leaders has diminished

Authoritarianism · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Foreign policy · Institution · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance