Comp Civ-Mil Relations

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

This course will introduce students to the comparative nature of civil-military relations. Students will analyze the fundamentals, historical developments, complex challenges, and various policy recommendations involving civil-military relations. The course is divided into three portions. The first portion will conceptualize civilian control over the military. Students will explore the proper relationship between political leadership and military organizations. The discourse will include exposure to critical principles, institutional norms, and informal expectations associated with civilian authorities over the military. The second portion of the course will discuss challenges involving the growing divide between civil-military relationships. The course will highlight significant challenges and their impacts. Those sub-topics include the politicization of the military, the causation of military coup d’état, the generations of war, low representation of service members in the military contributing to the familiarity gap, group thinking, the trust factor, the role of media & technology, decision-making over the global security environment (i.e., grand strategy, global war on terrorism and strategic competition), and the role of the veterans community. In addition, the course will cover global examples of civil-military relations including military dictatorship in Egypt, the 2016 Turkish coup d’état attempt, and political leadership instability in Myanmar. The final portion will conclude with practical applications. Students will be provided the opportunity to evaluate multiple policy options using practical applications and assess the pros and cons of each policy option by using various analytic tools.