Military Rule and Democratization : Changing Perspectives

Edited by Asha Gupta

2003, Deep & Deep Publications New Delhi. 344 p, ISBN : 81-7629-421-7

Contents: Preface. 1. Evolving role of the military/Asha Gupta. 2. Role of military in South-east Asia/Saroj Pathak. 3. Military’s role in the democratization of Myanmar/Madan M. Sankhdher. 4. Pakistan’s fourth military regime/Veena Kukreja. 5. Military rule and prospects of democratic development: the case of Pakistan and Bangladesh/A.N. Shamsul Hoque. 6. Military rule and democratizing processes in Bangladesh and Pakistan/Zillur A. Khan. 7. Role of the military in Turkish society: an assessment from the perspective of history, sociology and politics/Suna Kili. 8. Army and democracy: the Mexican experience/Gabriela Palavicini Corona. 9. Democratization and professional change in the Argentine Armed Forces/Antonio O. Donini. 10. Ethnicity and transition to democracy in Nigeria: explaining the passing of military rule in a multi-cultural society/Okechukwu Ibeanu. 11. The Kashmir problem and India’s defense policy/Nirmal Jindal. 12. Cyber-terrorism: an emerging challenge/Deepak Sharma. 13. Emerging trends/Asha Gupta. Bibliography. Index.

"The present volume is the outcome of the well-researched presentations made by various scholars on the ‘Role of Military in Democratization’ at the IPSA World Congress held at Quebec City in Canada during August 2000. It delves deeper into the heterogeneous experiences of the military regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America in past few decades. Since the military experiences in different parts of the third world have been varied and hybrid, the response to their narration is bound to be shifting and contextual.

A modest attempt is made to trace the intervention of the military into the politics during 1960s and 1970s and its subsequent withdrawal from active politics in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, Africa, Mediterranean Europe and Middle East during 1970s and 1980s. Sailing through the flags of ‘total military control’ and ‘total civilian control’ of the government, we find a variety of measures through which power can be shared among the military, political and non-state actors.

To the editor, the concept of power is not ‘immutable’ or ‘immortal’. It can be disembodied, dissembled, destroyed and decodified. This brings us to the special role the militaries are likely to play at the dawn of 21 century—protecting not only the national territories, sovereignty and its way of life but also ensuring human security in terms of protection against environmental degradation, political violence, narcotics trafficking, illegal migration, abuse of human rights, etc.

The book focuses on the ever-evolving role of the military in terms of shifts in paradigm from ‘politicization of military’ to ‘militarization of politics’. Instead of war-fighting roles, the militaries are now required to act as ‘peace-keepers’, ‘peace-makers’, ‘peace-builders’ and ‘peace-enforcers’. Security is a complex issue. It involves strategy, trade off, mutuality of interests, balance of terror, etc.

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 have made it clear that unless and until there is global cooperation and resource pooling, the inter-state or intra-state armed conflicts cannot be resolved in a world based on ‘uneven balance of terror’ rather than ‘détente’ per se.

The book ends with a note on the emerging trends on the role of military in the wake of post-cold war developments and new internationalism. The chances are that militaries are likely to take up more responsibilities and obligations as ‘harbinger of peace’ and ‘protectors of human rights and human security’ across the world as ‘global citizens in uniform’ than ever before. Human rights and human security have become fundamental to, or in separable from, national security interests."