Description
Civil-military relations can be looked upon as a classical theme for political scientists and sociologists. On the one hand this theme pertains to the complexities of civilian control of armed forces, against the background of operational demands, bureaucratic processes and technological developments. On the other hand it encompasses a range of social and cultural issues, related to public opinion, to military professionals and to society in general.
In this course our central focus will be on analyzing and comparing practices with regard to (democratic) decisionmaking on military missions. Our goal is to unravel the interplay of governments, parliaments and military establishments, in a context of internationalization and horizontalization of control. As for the latter, we are especially interested in public debate and media-framing and in present day preoccupation with risks and casualties. All along we try to read selective narratives of current soldiering – in Iraq, Afghanistan and other warlike theatres.
The aim of this course is to provide students with a theoretically grounded in-depth understandingof civil-military relations, at the political, the professional and the societal level.
Methods of Instruction
Lectures, discussion of assigned readings.
Study Material
Literature (approx. 900 pages):
Martin Shaw (2005), The New Western Way of War, Polity Press (paperback)
Robert D. Kaplan (2008), Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts. The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground, Vintage Books (paperback)
Douglas Foyle (2004), ‘Leading the Public to War? The Influence of American Public Opinion on the Bush Administration’s Decision to go to War in Iraq’, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 16, 3, 269-294. (download via e-journals)
Jan van der Meulen and Joseph Soeters (2005), ‘Dutch Courage: The Politics of Acceptable Risks’, Armed Forces and Society, 31, 4, 537-558. (download via e-journals)
Wolfgang Wagner (2006), Parliamentary Control of Military Missions: Accounting for Pluralism. Occasional Paper 12, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. (download via http://www.dcaf.ch/ )
Further selection of articles, chapters and reports
Examination
Presentation (30%)
Paper (70%)
Deadline final paper: 27 March 2010
Schedule
Tuesday 2 February from 20.15- 22.00
Tuesday 9 February from 20.15- 22.00
Saturday 13 February from 10.00-12.00 and 13.00-15.00
Tuesday 16 February from 20.15- 22.00
Tuesday 23 February from 20.15- 22.00
Tuesday 2 March from 20.15- 22.00
Tuesday 9 March from 20.15- 22.00
Tuesday 16 March from 20.15- 22.00
Tuesday 23 March from 20.15- 22.00