All the President's Generals: Civil-Military Relations in the US and Beyond

Readings

SESS #	TOPICS	READINGS
Part I: Intro to the Problem of Civil-Military Relations
1	Why Do Civil-Military Relations Matter? Democracy and Foreign Policy	O’Connor, Tom. “China Holds Military Drills in Hong Kong as Big Protests Planned for New Year.” Newsweek, December 30, 2019.  Hussain, Shaiq. “Pakistan’s Former Military Ruler Pervez Musharraf is Sentenced to Death for Treason,” Washington Post, December 17, 2019. U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. U.S. Constitution, Article II. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. War Powers Resolution (PDF - 1.1MB). United States Congress. Brooks, Risa. “What Should U.S. Military Leaders Do if the President Provokes a Major International Crisis?,” Washington Post, February 16, 2017. Braw, Elisabeth. “The Military Aren’t Heroes or Villains. They’re Us.” Foreign Policy, July 1, 2019. Recommended for those of you unfamiliar with militaries, optional background readings: Thornhill, Paula G. “Military Services, Organizational Integration, and Civilian Oversight.” Chapter 1 in Demystifying the American Military: Institutions, Evolution, and Challenges Since 1789. Naval Institute Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781682470732. [Preview with Google Books]  ———. “Those Who Serve and the Uniforms They Wear.” Chapter 2 in Demystifying the American Military: Institutions, Evolution, and Challenges Since 1789. Naval Institute Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781682470732. [Preview with Google Books]
Part II: Military and Politics
2	Causes of “Healthy” and “Unhealthy” Civil-Military Relations	Feaver, Peter D. “The Civil-Military Problematique: Huntington, Janowitz, and the Question of Civilian Control.” Armed Forces and Society 23, no. 2 (1996): 149–78. Barany, Zoltan. “What Does a Democratic Army Look Like?” Chapter 1 in The Soldier and the Changing State: Building Democratic Armies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 14–35 and 39–43 (from “Why do people with guns obey people without guns?” to the end of the chapter). ISBN: 9780691137698. [Preview with Google Books] Huntington, Samuel P. “Power, Professionalism, and Ideology: Civil-Military Relations in Theory.” Chapter 4 in The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil–Military Relations. Belknap Press, 1981. ISBN: 9780674817364. (Read closely pp. 80–85, skim pp. 85–97.) [Preview with Google Books] Singh, Naunihal. “Theory.” Chapter 2 in Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9781421422565. (Read pp. 15–24, and pp. 39–40. Skim pp. 24–39.) [Preview with Google Books] Recommended: Klaas, Brian. “Why Coups Fail: The Outcome in Turkey Was No Surprise.” Foreign Affairs, July 17, 2016. Balakrishnan, Nandita. “Sudan’s Upheaval is the Latest Example of a ‘Gray-Zone Coup’,” Washington Post, April 17, 2019. Huntington, Samuel P. “Armed Forces and Democracy: Reforming Civil-Military Relations.” Journal of Democracy 6, no. 4 (1995): 9–17.
3	Consequences of Military Rule	Geddes, Barbara, Erica Frantz, and Joseph G. Wright. “Military Rule.” Annual Review of Political Science 17 (2014): 147–62. (Read pp. 155–58.) Stepan, Alfred. “The Military in Newly Democratic Regimes: The Dimension of Military Prerogatives.” Chapter 7 in Rethinking Military Politics: Brazil and the Southern Cone. Princeton University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780691022741. [Preview with Google Books] Cook, Steven A. “Institutionalizing a Military-Founded System.” Chapter 4 in Ruling But Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780801885914. [Preview with Google Books] Weeks, Jessica L. “Strongmen and Straw Men: Authoritarian Regimes and the Initiation of International Conflict.” American Political Science Review 106, no. 2 (2012): 326–47. Naing, Shoon. “Myanmar Parliament Approves Panel to Discuss Constitution Despite Military Protest.” Reuters, February 6, 2019.
4	When Civilians Politicize the Military	Quinlivan, James T. “Coup-Proofing: Its Practice and Consequences in the Middle East” (PDF). International Security 24, no. 2 (1999): 131–65. (Focus on pp. 132–34.) Talmadge, Caitlin. “Different Threats, Different Militaries: Explaining Organizational Practices in Authoritarian Armies” (PDF). Security Studies 25, no. 1 (2016): 111-41. De Bruin, Erica. “Preventing Coups D’état: How Counterbalancing Works.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 62, no. 7 (2018): 1433-58. Harkness, Kristen A. “The Ethnic Army and the State: Explaining Coup Traps and the Difficulties of Democratization in Africa.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 60, no. 4 (2016): 587–616. Allen, Kenneth, Brian Chao, and Ryan Kinsella. “China’s Military Political Commissar System in Comparative Perspective.” China Brief 13, no. 3. March 4, 2013. Blankshain, Jessica. “Policy Roundtable: Civil-Military Relations Now and Tomorrow [Section 2: Trump’s Generals: Mattis, McMaster, and Kelly”]. Texas National Security Review, March 27, 2018.
Part III: Interaction between Military and Society
5	The Debate over Who Can/Should Serve	Janowitz, Morris. “Military Institutions and Citizenship in Western Societies” (PDF - 1.9MB). Armed Forces & Society 2, no. 2 (1976): 185–93. Krebs, Ronald R. “A School for the Nation? How Military Service Does Not Build Nations, and How It Might.” International Security 28, no. 4 (2004): 85–124. (Focus on pp. 90–115.) Kier, Elizabeth. “Homosexuals in the US Military: Open Integration and Combat Effectiveness” (PDF - 2.1MB). International Security 23, no. 2 (1998): 5–39. Recommended: Rana, Aziz. “Against National Security Citizenship.” Boston Review, February 7, 2018.
6	The Public’s View of the Military	Miller, Laura L., and John Allen Williams. “Do Military Policies on Gender and Sexuality Undermine Combat Effectiveness?” Chapter 10 in Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National Security. Edited by Peter D. Feaver and Richard H. Kohn. MIT Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780262561426 [Preview with Google Books] Feaver, Peter D., and Richard H. Kohn. “Conclusion: The Gap and What It Means for American National Security.” Chapter 13 in Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National Security. Edited by Peter D. Feaver and Richard H. Kohn. MIT Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780262561426. [Preview with Google Books] “War and Sacrifice in the Post-9/11 Era: Executive Summary.” Pew Research Center, October 5, 2011. Diavolo, Lucy. “6 Legendary Vietnam-Era Anti-War Movement Protests Everyone Should Know.” Teen Vogue, May 3, 2019. Peralta, Eyder. “Pentagon Paid Sports Teams Millions for ‘Paid Patriotism’ Events.” National Public Radio, November 5, 2015. Skim the following polls on trust in the military globally. For your second memo, pick a country from these polls: Public support for military governance: Wike, Richard, Katie Simmons, et al. “Globally, Broad Support for Representative and Direct Democracy.” Pew Research Center, October 16, 2017. (See pp. 28–30 of the PDF report.) US: Saad, Lydia. “Military, Small Business, Police Still Stir Most Confidence.” Gallup, June 28, 2018. “Military and National Defense.” Gallup.  Latin America: LAPOP America’s Barometer “Statistical Compendium 2018/2019” (PDF - 1.6MB). (Note: the PDF findings are in Spanish, but the findings for trust in the Armed Forces in 2018/2019 can be found on page 54 under variable B12, “Confianza en las Fuerzas Armadas.” The options for respondents on the left column go from “Nada” (or nothing) to “Mucho” (or a lot). “No sabe” is “Don’t know,” “No responde” is “Refused to respond.”) Africa: Afro Barometer The Online Data Analysis Tool. (Select a survey > Select all (countries) > See results > “Institutions and Leaders” > “Trust in Army.”) Asia: Asian Barometer Chu, Yun-han, Yu-tzung Chang, et al. “Re-assessing the Popular Foundation of Asian Democracies: Findings from Four Waves of the Asian Barometer Survey” (PDF). Global Barometer Working Paper Series, No. 120. Asian Barometer. (See “Figure 11: The Army (Military) Should Come In to Govern the Country.”) If you want more detailed survey data, you should apply directly to the Asian Barometer to ask them to send you the data. Find the application process here. Europe: Eurobarometer Browse the findings of the variable “Trust in Institutions: Army” over the different years of the survey here. Recommended for information on differences in attitudes between US civilians and people in the military:  Holsti, Ole R. “Of Chasms and Convergences: Attitudes and Beliefs of Civilians and Military Elites at the Start of a New Millennium.” Chapter 1 in Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National Security. Edited by Peter D. Feaver and Richard H. Kohn. MIT Press, 2001, pp. 15–63 & 90–99. ISBN: 9780262561426. [Preview with Google Books]
7	The Future of the Military-Industrial-Tech Complex	“Egypt’s Sisi Rebuffs Videos Alleging Corruption.” Reuters, September 14, 2019. Avant, Deborah D. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security. Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 7–26. ISBN: 9780521615358. [Preview with Google Books] Brooks, Risa. “Technology and Future War Will Test U.S. Civil-Military Relations.” War on the Rocks, November 26, 2018. Braw, Elisabeth. “How Israeli Conscription Drives Innovation.” Foreign Affairs, April 19, 2017. (This is the positive argument of military-economy revolving door.) Metz, Cade. “Is Ethical A.I. Even Possible?,” New York Times, March 1, 2019. Silverman, Jacob. “Tech’s Military Dilemma: Silicon Valley’s Emerging Role in America’s Forever War.” New Republic, August 7, 2018.