This book is a report of cross-national research on the civil–military cultural differences in democratic societies, particularly centred on the attitudes of national elites, here…
Abstract
This book is a report of cross-national research on the civil–military cultural differences in democratic societies, particularly centred on the attitudes of national elites, here considered as being mainly composed of professionals.Our research is limited to the democratic countries: This limit is grounded in the consideration that the cultural dynamics, especially in civil–military relations, of countries with non-democratic regimes are completely different.The initial project, written up and published in the ERGOMAS and RC01 newsletters, was later discussed at several conferences, and subsequently elaborated in a restricted working group.Researchers investigated a sample of cadets at military academies and their generational peers at civilian universities (“future elites”). An expert survey was also employed to sample “present elites”, both civilian and military.The book is therefore a report of the cross-national research on the civil–military cultural gap in democratic societies. It is divided into three parts: the first is devoted to describing the project's theoretical framework and the methodology used in the field research. The second part, deals with the results of the research on the main survey themes. The third part is aimed at illustrating the national specificities to the reader for better understanding of the results of the cross-national comparison. Finally, the last chapter presents a comparison between the responses of the two interviewed elites, present and future, and an attempt to draw a few conclusions.
Tibor Szvircsev Tresch, René Moelker and Giuseppe Caforio
The researchers’ first contact for the project on civil–military relations began in 2001. The empirical phase of the research started in autumn of 2003 and ended in 2005. The…
Abstract
The researchers’ first contact for the project on civil–military relations began in 2001. The empirical phase of the research started in autumn of 2003 and ended in 2005. The study was carried out on two levels of empirical investigation: The first was constituted by future elites, represented by civilian students and military cadets. The research among civilian students was limited to three faculties in order making an empirical examination manageable. All in all 3,015 persons from 13 countries have been interviewed. The second level of investigation was constituted by interviewing a sample of current elites through an expert questionnaire.The questionnaire employed for the survey of future elites is reported in Annex 1.
The state of the relations between the armed forces and society in Italy displays some general features. The first is the presence of a very broad-based pacifism that has two…
Abstract
The state of the relations between the armed forces and society in Italy displays some general features. The first is the presence of a very broad-based pacifism that has two different origins which, although quite different from each other and in some ways opposing, often end up by uniting or allying. These two traditions are a Marxist–anarchic, or more generically leftist, one, and a Catholic one that is still very strong in our country. Since the end of the Second World War, the extent of this pacifism, often with a good dose of antimilitarism, has always made relations between the country and its armed forces difficult.
Giuseppe Caforio, Karl W. Haltiner, Ljubica, René Moelker and Tibor Szvircsev Tresch
The aim of this chapter is to present and discuss the theoretical framework that the group has set up for the research presented here. We deal here with the following topics:•a…
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to present and discuss the theoretical framework that the group has set up for the research presented here. We deal here with the following topics:•a clarification of the general concept of culture adopted by us, and especially of culture of democratic countries•the concept of military culture, along with its subcultures, and the process of change in its dimensions of de-militarisation of societies and re-militarisation of the militaries•a discussion on the possibility of a cross-national research on the subject.Discussion leads us to realise the possibility and the convenience of a research as such. Therefore, we materialise our intent to carry on an empirical research on the civil–military cultural differences in Europe in comparison with results already obtained for the U.S. (but it can be employed in non-European countries too, where living conditions can be assumed to be that of all modern democratic societies).In order to do that, we agreed with several guidelines for our research project, i.e., one basic assumption and three working hypothesis.
Giuseppe Caforio and Maja Garb
This chapter deals with the effects that the socialisation process, both primary and professional, has on the cultural attitudes of young people interviewed with regard to…
Abstract
This chapter deals with the effects that the socialisation process, both primary and professional, has on the cultural attitudes of young people interviewed with regard to national security.The data show the great importance of primary socialisation, especially among cadets, who form a military mindset already before entering the training academies. The process is less accentuated for youths who attend civilian universities.Professional socialisation then operates in both environments, at times in contradictory ways with respect to the aims of the profession for cadets, and with respect to greater awareness of security issues for university students.
Bahattin Akşit, BA (1968), METU; MA (1971) and PhD (1975) University of Chicago. Dr. Akşit, Professor in the Department of Sociology, Middle East Technical University, conducts…
Abstract
Bahattin Akşit, BA (1968), METU; MA (1971) and PhD (1975) University of Chicago. Dr. Akşit, Professor in the Department of Sociology, Middle East Technical University, conducts research in the following areas: Psycho-social aspects of disaster management; Community participation and volunteer associations; Rural structural transformations, Social change and cleavage in towns and cities; Sociology of religion and secularism; Sociology of Middle East and Central Asia; Army and conflict resolution. Recent publications are: (1) Karanci, N., Akşit, B. and Dirik, G. (2005). Impact of a community disaster awareness training program in Turkey, Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 33(3); (2) Akşit, B., Karanci, N. and Gunduz-Hosgör, A. (2001), Turkey, working street children in three metropolitan cities, International Labour Organization; (3) Akşit, B. (1993). Studies in rural transformation in Turkey. In: P. Stirling (Ed.), Culture and the economy: Changes in Turkish villages. Cambridgeshire: The Eothen Press; (4) Akşit, B. (1991). Islamic education in Turkey: Medrese reform in late Ottoman times and Imam-hatip schools. In: R. Tapper (Ed.), Islam in modern Turkey: Religion politics and literature in a secular state. London: I B Tauris and University of London.
Data analysis reveals that the sources of information on military security issues that the young elites mainly rely on are first and foremost television news programmes, followed…
Abstract
Data analysis reveals that the sources of information on military security issues that the young elites mainly rely on are first and foremost television news programmes, followed very closely by newspapers and in third place, but lagging considerably behind, is the Internet. So far the information sources appear to be the same ones and to be equally important for the two groups studied, university students and cadets.However, sizeable gaps have to be registered in the opinions of respondents on the media in general, as, for instance, the assessment of the attitude displayed by the media toward the military, or their interest in defence-related issues, the judgment of the level of information on military issues.Other cultural differences arise dealing with the public opinion theme, as far as the armed forces’ public image is concerned, or on the evaluation of the officers’ professional training.After presenting main data on the theme, this chapter tries to discuss them and to reach some general conclusion.
Sweden is militarily non-allied and has for centuries relied on its own ability to defend itself. Even “neutrality” has traditionally been associated with Sweden, but with…
Abstract
Sweden is militarily non-allied and has for centuries relied on its own ability to defend itself. Even “neutrality” has traditionally been associated with Sweden, but with increased international involvement this concept has been eroded more and more. Sweden has about nine million inhabitants, is geographically extensive with a length of about 1,500 kilometres from north to south and is, especially in the northern regions, often sparsely populated. Altogether these conditions have had an influence on the dimensioning and structuring of the armed forces. For example, during the 1950s Sweden had the fourth largest air force in the Western world and as late as at the end of the Cold War Sweden, at least on paper, maintained an impressive number of armed forces (850,000 after mobilisation). However the equipment and training of these forces left much to be desired (Åselius, 2005).
The expert survey, carried out in the manner described in Part I of this volume (in Chapter 2), enables us to get a look, through the opinions of a set of top leaders and opinion…
Abstract
The expert survey, carried out in the manner described in Part I of this volume (in Chapter 2), enables us to get a look, through the opinions of a set of top leaders and opinion makers, at the perception of the cultural gap between society and armed forces felt by current elites, as well as to gain insights into the trends over time.