Armed Forces and Society

Kristina Soukupova, BA, MA, PhDUniversity of West Bohemia, Plzen

Summer 2013 Session

Content

•Introduction •Course overview, Study Materials,

Syllabus

•Basic concepts•Civil-military simulation•Discussion•Conclusion

IntroductionKristina SOUKUPOVA

• BA in Politics and Society, minor in International Law (Anglo American College Prague)

• MA in International Peace and Security (School of Law, King’s College London)

• PhD in War Studies (Department of War Studies, King’s College London)

• Almost 10 years experience as a defence and security consultant for governments (UK, US, Switzerland, CZ) and commercial sector

• Co-author of White Book on Defence (2010)• Teaching experience: King’s College London, NATO

International School of Azerbaijan, various conferences• Managing Editor of Defence, Security and Conflict Studies

for Versita Open Access Publishing

Who are you and why are you here?

• What are your expectations from this course?

• Why did you choose this course?

• Do you have any experience with the military or the police (active service, family member, ...etc)

Introduction

Aims of this course

To get you interested in the field

To make you want to learn more about the role of armed forces in societies

To make you think across multiple disciplines

Course Overview

Course Overview

Sessions: Every OTHER Tuesday from 16:40 to 20:10

YOU MUSAT TAKE ACTIVE PART IN CLASS

Grading: Class participation 50%Essays 50%

Course Overview

Each student will prepare TWO Essays and will present them in class

The essays will be max 2,000 words

The presentations will be approx 20 minutes

I must approve the topics of your essays before you start researching and writing!

Study MaterialsUse the internet as much as you can, be

critical to your sources!There is a lot of material available in Open

Source

Bibliography in your Syllabus I do not expect you to read it allBut you must read at least some of the

materials for each class

Course Overview

Topics• War and Armed Forces in the Modern State

• Civil-Military Relations in Communist States

• Civil-military relations in Post-Communist states Security Sector Reform, Civil-military relations in the Czech Republic

• Non-traditional CMR - Armed Forces and Societies in Conflict Regions and Failed States. CMR in the 21st century

Course Overview

Basic Concepts

Basic Concepts

Just War Theory • Western Origin, Influenced by Christianity• Developed over time• Romans affirmed right-authority and proportionality• Late middle ages before concept is completed and

incorporated• Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello

Basic Concepts

Just War Theory JUS AD BELLUM (Justice in going to war)

• Just Cause• Competent Authority• Comparative Justice• Right Intention• Last Resort• Probability of Success• Proportionality of Ends

Basic Concepts

Just War Theory JUS IN BELLO (Justice in the conduct of war)

• Proportionately of means• Discrimination of civilians (immunity)

Basic Concepts

Civil Military Relations Theory

• Plato and the Republic• But really developed post-WWII• Originally focus on military coup d'état

Basic Concepts

Civil Everything except military

A non-military establishment in a sense of tribal, ethnical, national or state-bound units accommodating state structures.

Basic Concepts

Military A specialized ‘institution of coercion (violence)’ created to bear the burden of defense on behalf of a particular socio-political system.

Basic Concepts

Civil – Military Relations

A power relationship defined by interactions between the military and the civil socio-political system

Military comes and is a part of the socio-political system

"...Pro obranu vlasti jsem připraven nasadit i svůj život. Tak přísahám!"

Basic Concepts

Basic Concepts

Monopoly over Legitimate Violence

• Citizens give up their right of self defence and rely on the state

• Violence is vested into military (institution) with the objective to protect socio-political system and pacify it

• States are ‘defined’ by their monopoly over legitimate violence

Basic Concepts

Civilian Control of the Military

• We create an organization of violence to protect us...

• We train them, give them guns...

• How do we make sure this organization does not turn their guns against us?

• ‘But who guards the Guards?’ Plato

• Objective control: ‘Civilians make policy and the military executes.’

The Trinity

Del

egat

ion

Rep

rese

ntat

ion C

ontrol

Protection

Representation

Protection

Social Contract

Basic Concepts

•Healthy CMR are a core part of any democratic socio political system

• There are common principles but there is no generic solution – each state has its own CMR

Questions so far?

Basic Concepts

15 Minutes Break

Simulation

You are the Government of the Banana Republic

You have the power and responsibility to:

create brand new armed forces,

define their roles and position within the socio-political system

The Banana Republic Armed Forces - BRAF

Conclusion • The relationship between the armed forces and the civil

socio-political system is a complex power relationship

• Unique for each socio-political system

• Requires a holistic approach

• We are concerned about the control of the armed forces, but that is not our only problem/issue of study