Political Control Over the Use of Force: A Clausewitzian Perspective

This article analyzes the ways in which civil–military relations shape professional military education (PME). Its main argument is that military education benefits from a civil–military partnership. In doing so, the article examines the role of civil–military relations in shaping PME in India. While describing the evolution of military education in India, it analyzes its weaknesses and argues that this is primarily due to its model of civil–military relations, with a limited role for civilians. Theoretically, this argument challenges Samuel Huntington’s notion of “objective control”—which envisaged a strict separation between the civil and military domains. Conceptually, this article argues for a greater dialogue on military education among civilians, both policy makers and academics, and military officers and not to leave it to the military’s domain—as is currently the practice in most countries.

Section: Forging the Sword: Civilian Intervention And Pmementioning

confidence: 99%

Educating the Professional Military

Mukherjee

2017

“…As Cohen (2002) puts this point: "Like most classics The Soldier and the State is more cited than read, and many of its subtleties have been lost on those who have admired it most" (p. 242). See also Nielsen andSnider (2009), Feaver andSeeler (2009), and Travis (2017). Although there may be more to be said for Huntington than is normally said, it is not accidental that Cohen's "normal theory" of civil-military relations arises from Huntington's work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Continuing Relevance of Morris Janowitz’s The Professional Soldier for the Education of Officers

Nielsen

Liebert

2020

Self Cite

In the current strategic environment, Morris Janowitz’s The Professional Soldier deserves renewed emphasis, especially from the military’s senior leaders who are responsible for the education and development of the country’s officer corps. Janowitz’s work is an especially valuable guide to the education of officers today because of his focus on the need for military officers to understand the political impact of military posture and military operations. The education of U.S. military officers to meet the country’s national security needs in the 21st century must go beyond Huntington’s formulation of expertise to an appreciation, in Janowitz’s terms, of “the political and social impact of the military establishment on international security affairs” across the spectrum of conflict. Janowitz’s formulation is the better guide because military means serve political purposes, and ultimately, a country’s strategic success will be judged in political terms.

“…Moreover, Nielsen maintains that Clausewitz offers little guidance on what should be the military professional's response if the civilian leadership either ignores the professional's advice or orders the military to support a political goal that is incompatible with the military's capabilities. 8 Let me stipulate to two fundamental issues. First is that Clausewitz's theory of civil-military relations does assume the existence of a political state.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clausewitz and Subjective Civilian Control

Binkley

2015

This article focuses on Carl von Clausewitz’s ideas regarding civil–military relations and in particular how those ideas relate to Samuel Huntington’s models of objective and subjective civilian control. Huntington believed that Clausewitz supplied the foundation for his concept of objective control. Yet an examination of Clausewitz’s own experiences, as well as his theoretical writings, rejects the basic tenants of objective control: a politically neutral military, the separation of political from military considerations during the professional officer’s analytical processes, and the reliance on the professional military as opposed to the citizen soldier. Instead, Clausewitz embraced something similar to Huntington’s concept of subjective control and with it a fusionist model of civil–military relations.