Cass Military Studies: Civil-Military Relations in Europe (PDF)

This new bookillustrates how democracy cannot develop or endure unless military and security forces are under the full control of democratic institutions and all the necessary safeguards, checks and balances are in place. The contributors showhow contemporary European states manage the following issue: how does a society, primarily through its legitimate, democratically elected political leaders and their appointed officials, control the military, that same state institution that has been established for its protection and wields the monopoly of legitimate force? Twenty-eightcase studies are selected fromkeycountries: the Czech Republic, Germany, Georgia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland and the Ukraine. The key subjects of these cases vary from corruption to military incompetence, disobedience towards civilian superiors, to unauthorized strikes and accidents. The focus is on the relationship between political, civilian and military actors while identifying problems and dangers that can emerge in those relations to the detriment of effective and legitimate democratic control. Thisis essential reading for students of civil-military relations, democratization, European politicsand security studies in general.