This new book illustrates how democracy cannot develop or endure unless military and security forces are under the full control of democratic institutions, and all the necessary safeguards, checks and balances are in place. The contributors show how contemporary European states manage the following issue: how does a society, primarily through its legitimate, democratically elected political leaders and their appointed officials, control the military, that same state institution that has been established for its protection and wields the monopoly of legitimate force? Twenty-eight case studies are selected from key countries: the Czech Republic, Germany, Georgia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland, and the Ukraine. The key subjects of these cases vary from corruption to military incompetence, disobedience towards civilian superiors, to unauthorized strikes and accidents. The focus is on the relationship between political, civilian and military actors while identifying problems and dangers that can emerge in those relations to the detriment of effective and legitimate democratic control. This is essential reading for students of civil-military relations, democratization, European politics and security studies in general.
Author(s): Hans Born, Marina Caparini, Karl Haltiner, Jurgen Kuhlmann
Edition: 1
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 304
Book Cover......Page 1
Half-Title......Page 2
Series-Title......Page 3
Title......Page 6
Copyright......Page 7
Contents......Page 8
List of figures and tables......Page 11
Contributors......Page 12
Preface......Page 14
Acknowledgements......Page 17
Abbreviations......Page 18
Part I Introduction......Page 22
1 Civilians and the military in Europe......Page 24
Part II Transition states......Page 40
2 Stressed and strained civil–military relations in Romania, but successfully reforming......Page 42
3 Differentia specifica: Military reform in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia......Page 56
4 The impact of conflict and corruption on Macedonia's civil–military relations......Page 69
5 Political irresponsibility and lack of transparency in Ukrainian defence reform......Page 83
6 Striving for effective parliamentary control over the armed forces in Georgia......Page 100
Part III Consolidating democracies......Page 116
7 Problems confronting civilian democratic control in Poland......Page 118
8 Civil-military relations in Hungary: From competition to co-operation......Page 135
9 Executive decisions and divisions: Disputing competences in civil–military relations in Slovenia......Page 151
10 Modernisation of the Czech armed forces: No walk through a rose garden......Page 168
11 A battle for civil supremacy over the military in Israel......Page 184
Part IV Established democracies......Page 196
12 The military voice in France: On the streets and in the newspapers......Page 198
13 Democratic control of the Swiss militia in times of war and peace: Ideal and reality......Page 212
14 International prestige and domestic democratic values in civil–military conflicts: Two Irish case studies......Page 223
15 His master's voice? Freedom of speech and the German Citizen in Uniform......Page 238
Part V Conclusions......Page 254
16 Patterns of democratic governance of civil–military relations......Page 256
Bibliography......Page 277
Index......Page 292
