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Book part
Publication date: 7 September 2018

Dean Karalekas

This study is aimed at assessing the ROC military using the PMMM according to the perceptions of the citizens of Taiwan. The patterns that can be detected in Taiwan’s military

Abstract

This study is aimed at assessing the ROC military using the PMMM according to the perceptions of the citizens of Taiwan. The patterns that can be detected in Taiwan’s military show that it paradoxically spans three distinct stages: the modern, late modern, and postmodern. Taiwan’s is a modern military in terms of perceived threat, force structure, major mission definition, and civilian employees. It can be regarded as more of a late-modern model in the dimensions of dominant military professional, public attitude, and women’s role. Lastly, it achieves a postmodern designation as regards the role of spouses, homosexuals, conscientious objection, and media relations. In all, this paints a picture of a fractured military culture: one between two worlds. This should not be surprising: to many in Taiwan, Taiwan itself is a fractured culture, seeking to define its identity, and find its place in the world, and in history. In the dimensions in which Taiwan rates as a modern military, we can see this is driven by external factors. The geopolitical scenario in which the nation finds itself, that is, under threat of invasion by a numerically and technologically superior foe, is very much a pre-Cold War scenario. It exhibits a late-modern model in the dimensions of public attitude and women’s role, and a postmodern model when it comes to the role of spouses, homosexuals, conscientious objection, and media relations – all factors that are related primarily to how the military interacts with the society it protects. Thus, we have a bifurcated profile. The ROC military must, as it does, focus on a modern-era threat perception, just as it must, as it does, focus on a postmodern-era approach to women and homosexuals in the military.

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Maja Garb

The world of military uniforms has always attracted attention by the rest of society. The film and literary image of the military in the history lays stress on power, honour…

Abstract

The world of military uniforms has always attracted attention by the rest of society. The film and literary image of the military in the history lays stress on power, honour, discipline, privileges, high social position of warriors and also dependence of the social welfare on military power and military campaigns. Those images impose to our minds that the military was an important institution and also that it was something really special. How does the society see the military today? And how does the military regard itself and its functions? Since the development of military sociology in the middle of the 20th century, there have been two opposing views on civil-military relations: one that strictly differentiates the military and society and the other that seeks the similarities between them. The recent military-sociological debate in the United States has also been devoted to the issue of the relationship between the military and its parent society. The experts found important differences between the US military and US society (including cultural ones) and some are very concerned about a growing gap between them. The classical antagonism between Huntington's uniqueness of the military and Janowitz's convergence of the military and civil society is renewed in debates about a so-called civil-military gap (e.g., Ricks, 1997; Holsti, 1998; Cohn, 1999; Snider, 1999; Hillen, 1999; Feaver, Kohn, & Cohn, 2001).

Details

Military Missions and their Implications Reconsidered: The Aftermath of September 11th
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-012-8

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Eraldo Olivetta

According to Kümmel, the military is a highly complex social phenomenon touching several different contexts and is thus subject to multiple processes of interpretation (Kümmel

Abstract

According to Kümmel, the military is a highly complex social phenomenon touching several different contexts and is thus subject to multiple processes of interpretation (Kümmel, 2003). For this reason, the military is studied from a trans- or interdisciplinary perspective. Historically, the military function could be synthesised in the protection of the entire nation from external invasion and the ruling regime from domestic unrest as well as the conduct of wars for foreign policy objectives. This function raises a basic peculiarity of the military that makes it a special institution: the legitimate management of violence. Such as every organisation, the military changed over time and the changes ask for a revision of the management modalities of many aspects of its operations. From here the idea of a research about the collective representation of military personnel in Italy started. This article is intended to present the planned research. The survey is divided into three parts. To begin, I will analyse some aspects of the military changes, in order to know the context in which the need for an empirical research about this matter is placed. Next, I will examine the structure of the Italian collective representation of the military, pointing out some of the problems of the actual system. To conclude, I will briefly present the research.

Details

Military Missions and their Implications Reconsidered: The Aftermath of September 11th
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-012-8

Book part
Publication date: 18 July 2007

Claude Weber and Axel Augé

Good working relationship between civilians and military has been one of the key priorities of French Politicians in the last decade. President Jacques Chirac has himself in a…

Abstract

Good working relationship between civilians and military has been one of the key priorities of French Politicians in the last decade. President Jacques Chirac has himself in a political speech in 1996 mentioned a professionalisation of the military corpus which has raised concerns of the future of French armed forces and led to the transformation of the relationship between the military and non-military sector. A good example of this cultural transformation could be noted in the creation of the so-called JAPD (Journée d’Appel à la Préparation de Défense) which is a one day event during which the French young population is given the opportunity to have an insight into the military environment.

Details

Cultural Differences between the Military and Parent Society in Democratic Countries
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-444-53024-0

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Alise Weibull

The past ten to fifteen years have been a turbulent period for the Swedish military. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which was the primary potential enemy, the end of the Cold…

Abstract

The past ten to fifteen years have been a turbulent period for the Swedish military. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which was the primary potential enemy, the end of the Cold War, the establishment of the independent Baltic States and Swedish membership in the European Union all combined to render the Swedish defence forces hopelessly outdated. However, although the need for change has been obvious for many years, now many think the progress has been very slow. Some say we should have changed the defence forces dramatically back in the early 1990s. Instead, we chose to implement a series of reorganisations, closing down piece after piece of the old invasion-oriented defence force, while trying to retain as much as possible. What we have today is an eroded conscription system, where military service has become more a question of choice. Despite all this, the public is still quite supportive, thinking that we might need a defence “just in case”, especially as new threats arise. A new trend is that quite many, according to public opinion polls, now think that those who actually do serve as conscripts should get extra compensated with money for this service to society.

Details

Military Missions and their Implications Reconsidered: The Aftermath of September 11th
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-012-8

Book part
Publication date: 7 September 2018

Dean Karalekas

Force Structure is an important aspect of the PMMM and helps define the nature of civil–military relations. It is in the realm of conscription that the dimension of force…

Abstract

Force Structure is an important aspect of the PMMM and helps define the nature of civil–military relations. It is in the realm of conscription that the dimension of force structure finds particular relevance in the Taiwan context. Moreover, while there have been military restructuring projects and programs that have made detailed changes one way or the other, the big picture remains: Taiwan’s is a conscript-based military. Therefore, it is this aspect of force structure wherein the importance of public perception lies, and the results of this research show that attitudes toward military conscription are impacted significantly by self-identification, with the vast majority wanting the ROC government to keep conscription, rather than moving forward with the All-Volunteer Force transformation. In terms of the attitudes toward conscientious objection, results show that the younger a respondent is, the more they support conscientious objection. Moreover, the more supportive a respondent is to women serving in the military, the more they support conscientious objection. Taken together, this would seem to indicate that citizens, especially young people, regard the matter of military service as a choice that should be made by the individual in question – either male or female. Given the fact of conscription, persons with a valid reason for conscientiously objecting should not be forced to serve, or punished if they refuse to do so. Thus it seems that people recognize a need for conscription, whether as a means to promote good citizenship habits among young men, or because of the China threat, but that opting out of such a system should be accommodated.

Details

Civil-Military Relations in Taiwan
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-482-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 September 2018

Dean Karalekas

The dominant military professional undergoes a shift in order to exercise the most effective leadership in a new threat environment. Moskos et al. identified how the focus of the…

Abstract

The dominant military professional undergoes a shift in order to exercise the most effective leadership in a new threat environment. Moskos et al. identified how the focus of the dominant military professional changed from the modern period from one of a combat leader proficient in the art of war and in exercising effective leadership under combat conditions, to a more managerial role in the late modern military, and thence to a skill set heavy on diplomacy and scholarship in the postmodern era. Most examinations of civilian employees in the military are focused on civilian (i.e., ministerial) control, but the issue goes much deeper, and includes among other things the need to hire technologists and technicians for today’s modern electronic weapons systems, laborers to free up conscripts for training, and civilian contractors at all levels. Until Taiwan’s democratization, the degree of civilian employment in the armed forces was negligible. Those that did operate in conjunction with serving members were very much divided along the same lines as officers and men; with two types of civilian contractors: officer-type and soldier-type. Thus, the pattern of civilian employees in the ROC military appears to be concentrated at the high end and the low end – the high end being the planning and decision-making within the defense organization, and at the low end with clerks and other soldier-type employees. The ROC military’s limited budget makes service members a more viable option, keeping the penetration of civilian employees into the operational side of military operations down to a minor component.

Details

Civil-Military Relations in Taiwan
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-482-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 September 2018

Dean Karalekas

Perhaps the most important aspect of civil–military relations, with implication for all other dimensions of this relationship, is how the public perceives the military and its…

Abstract

Perhaps the most important aspect of civil–military relations, with implication for all other dimensions of this relationship, is how the public perceives the military and its role. This research uncovered some interesting patterns in this relationship, an understanding of which is crucial to solving the problems faced by the ROC military today. Results of this research illuminate an ambivalence in attitudes toward the military. As Moskos has amply demonstrated, militaries can be a part of society, or separate from the society they serve. During the 38 years of martial law, the military essentially controlled public perception through outright control of the island’s media. Today, with the post-democratization emergence of a free press, the military is constantly being excoriated by the media. It is important to determine the degree to which the general population believes this harsh coverage is justified, or do people think that the military does not deserve to be treated so shabbily by the media. Results of this research indicate that the more strongly one identifies as Taiwanese, the less likely he is to view the media as being unfair to the military in its coverage. Perception of the media’s coverage of the military is therefore impacted significantly by self-identification, as confirmed by these results: with those self-identifying as Taiwanese believing that the media harshness is warranted in covering the military. This is not an unexpected result, given that, as mentioned above, the military is widely seen as having been the KMT army, and antithetical to the push for independence, or at least localization.

Book part
Publication date: 14 August 2014

Carlos Seiglie, Scott Yi-Chun Lin and Tanu Kohli

There has been an extensive amount of research on the determinants of military spending over the last 25 years. These studies underline that military spending is a complicated…

Abstract

There has been an extensive amount of research on the determinants of military spending over the last 25 years. These studies underline that military spending is a complicated concept, with economic capabilities, political processes and military linkages playing an interdependent role at the national, regional and global levels. Recent works focus on other outcomes of military spending. This chapter develops a model of conflict that generates a demand for military personnel and equipment by countries for either aggressive or defensive purposes. This model highlights some of the key determinants of military spending. Using pooled time-series, cross-sectional data on military spending for 146 countries from 1998 to 2007 we test this model and analyze other possible factors that previously have not been explored in the literature.

Details

The Evolving Boundaries of Defence: An Assessment of Recent Shifts in Defence Activities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-965-2

Book part
Publication date: 18 July 2007

Marina Nuciari

In this research the starting point was that a certain gap between military and civilian culture could exist, because of the inevitable difference between typical military values…

Abstract

In this research the starting point was that a certain gap between military and civilian culture could exist, because of the inevitable difference between typical military values and new values arisen in contemporary societies, with special reference to Western affluent societies. It seems that this hypothesis belong to the culture-free side, since it rests on the concept of a military culture made of specific values, which are the same in every society. There is anyway a different viewpoint, following the trends of studies developed in the intercultural relations domain, mainly dealing with business internationalisation and cross-cultural management topics, generally known as the culture-bound thesis. In the culture-free assumption the consequence should be a pressure of social change on a supposed unique military; in the culture-bound conception a mutual and systemic adaptation of different institutions within each inclusive society driven by one's own culture could be expected. Findings in this research show that if a relative gap can be observed between military and civilian students, this varies greatly according to different groups of countries. Distances seem to be larger in countries belonging to the post-modern cluster (Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands), and lowering down in modern countries such as Slovenia, Bulgaria and Poland, and even less appreciable in Romania, South Africa and Turkey. This could give some support to the culture-free thesis, according to which military culture is specific and find more convergences with so-called traditional societies than with modern or post-modern cultures. But results are not as sharp as needed, and the culture-bound thesis cannot anyway be rejected.

Details

Cultural Differences between the Military and Parent Society in Democratic Countries
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-444-53024-0

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