Military Politics Final Study Guide

Scholars and commentators have raised serious concerns about the health of civil-military relations in the United States. What are the core challenges afflicting civil-military relations in a country that is simultaneously the world's oldest democracy and the possessor of its most powerful military? In your response, identify the central problems and discuss their implications.

Core challenges being political polarization, populism, and the rise of militarism.

The military is widely regarded as among the most disciplined, professional, and patriotic institutions in any society. Given these qualities, what is the objection to military rule? Why should a government led by the military be considered problematic?

Objection to military rule due to harm to society and the military institution, problematic for these reasons and increased propensity of war.

The United States military is 43% non-white and 20% female, yet the current Defense Secretary has dismissed the motto "Our Diversity is our Strength" as the single most vacuous phrase in military history. This tension raises a pointed institutional question: how should militaries approach diversity? Is diversity an operational asset, a social obligation, or an organizational liability? Ground your argument in the scholarly literature covered in the course.

Diversity should be pursued carefully, can be all three. Institutional strength through Peled, tool for nationalism through Krebs, and finally risk of severe military inequality through Lyall.

Why is it difficult to keep religion out of the military? What aspects of military life are impacted by religion? How and under what conditions can religion be a double-edged sword for the military?

Religion important for both institution and soldier, tool to maintain cohesion, morale, and garner support for institution. For soldier needed for support and source of motivation. Affects recruitment, diet, institutional health, enemies, rituals, chaplains, and deities. Double edged sword due to rival authority, interfaith competition, harm to professionalism, risks of prolonged conflicts, and radicalized soldiers

If race was once described as the defining faultline of American society, partisan identity has arguably displaced it as the deeper and more corrosive divide. Can military service serve as a remedy? Suppose all able-bodied adults were required to complete a limited term of military service — would this shared experience meaningfully reduce partisan polarization and foster national unity? Construct a consistent argument for your position, and engage seriously with the strongest counterarguments.

Military as school for nation through socialization, contact, and elite transformation. Krebs counters no real proof and that it could have opposite effect.

Religion structures meaning, identity, and community for billions of people across the world. The military, as a total institution, similarly seeks to reorder the identities, loyalties, and daily rhythms of those it recruits. Drawing on examples from multiple militaries examined during the course, analyze how military institutions harness religion to advance their multiple organizational goals.

Religion co-opted for loyalty, cohesion, and motivation. Cases being Indian, Egyptian, and Pakistani.

High levels of public admiration for the military have not translated into a solution to its recruitment crisis — and may, paradoxically, be generating problems of their own. What new institutional or political risks does mass deference to the military create? What concrete steps can the military take to navigate this dilemma?

Risks for institution being shielding from failure, weakening autonomy, and lessening respect. Risks for society ebing undemocratic norms and rist of populism (for both). Navigated through professionalism.

The military's formal mandate is narrow: defend the state's territorial integrity and serve as an instrument of foreign policy. In practice, however, the military frequently shapes domestic political life in consequential ways. Identify and discuss three significant domestic outcomes in which the military has played a decisive or formative role. Your analysis should move beyond description to assess the broader implications of each.

US and military extremism, Russia and ethno-religious nationalism, and Chile’s dictatorship

Civil-military relations in many postcolonial states were fraught with tension from the moment of independence. What factors explain this volatility? What strategies did postcolonial governments adopt to bring their militaries under control — and how effective were those efforts?

Volatility coming from ethnic iissues and low levels of professionalism. Post-colonial governments turned to further ethnic stacking, guardianship militaries, foreign soldiers, enclave soldiers, and most effectively professional reconstruction.