Organisational Relations David Chuter

A Preliminary Warning This is not the British Government speaking Most of what I say is based on personal experience

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What Are Defence Forces? They are an executive arm of government So they implement policy. They do not make it

What Do Defence Forces Do? They exist to underpin the domestic and foreign policies of the state with violence or the threat of violence. And they have other skills which can be used in various contexts. Oh ….

… and the defence forces represent the collective Id of a society; the urge to violence and destruction. They do the things we would secretly like to do ourselves, but dare not admit.

The Policy Hierarchy Government policy Foreign/Interior policy Security policy Defence policy

The Policy Hierarchy (2) It’s not a one-way process. What happens if the hierarchy is not respected?

A Few Words About Clausewitz He said that - “War is a continuation of state policy with the addition of other means.” He meant that –Any use of military forces must have a purpose

This Is the Theory, Anyway What are the reasons why it may be difficult in practice?

Complicating Factors History Culture Position of the armed forces Political/ethnic/religious problems

Three Types of Government Hereditary/monarchical Charismatic Bureaucratic..... In practice, they are often combined

What Does This Mean for the Role of Civilians? They represent the voter, the citizen and the the taxpayer They also represent the larger picture... And they can work productively with the military

What’s all this about “Civilian Control”, then ? Lots of unnecessary confusion. But actually quite simple. Civis = the State. The military obeys legitimate authority. So we mean “Civil Control”.

The Military and Politics Generally, the military should not get drawn into politics What are the reasons why it happens sometimes? Is it what the military want?

A Security Community ( To Be Involved) President/prime minister’s office Foreign ministry Military staffs Civilian advisers Interior ministry Police Economics/trade ministry

External Actors ( To Be Consulted) Parliament and local government The media Industrial interests Civil society

Relations Between Organisations Can be: –From the top down –From the bottom Up Can be –Consensual –Adversarial

The End Thank You Questions?