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Democratic Civil-Military Relations

Democratic Civil-Military Relations. LTC. Ferenc Molnár Office for Strategic and Defence Studies. Introduction. Two challenges at the same time: Democratic transition Adapting the post-cold war environment. Aim of the presentation.

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Democratic Civil-Military Relations

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  1. Democratic Civil-Military Relations LTC. Ferenc Molnár Office for Strategic and Defence Studies

  2. Introduction Two challenges at the same time: • Democratic transition • Adapting the post-cold war environment

  3. Aim of the presentation Spreading information about principles, norms, and practice of democratic CMR

  4. Topics • Defining democratic civil-military relations • Democratic control over the armed forces • Building democratic control in Hungary

  5. Definition of CMR CMR means the relationship • between the state and the military, • and between the society and the military

  6. In war Minimizing public conflicts is the interest both statesmen and military leaders independently from the possible fact that they intervene into each others’ competency, responsibility. In peace Public conflicts raise continuously due to the permanent control of politicians, experts, journalists, and NGOs. The feature of the DCMR

  7. The feature of the DCMR Politicians have to decide on the “operating issues” of military-policy: • 1. Quantitative issues of the size, recruitment, and supply of the military (proportion of state resources devoted to military needs.). • 2. Qualitative issues of the military organization, composition, equipment, and deployment of the military. (Such as type of armaments, weapons, location of bases, allies etc.) • 3. Dynamic issues of the utilization of military forces (when and under what circumstances)

  8. Consequently The fundamental issues of institutional policy are always present, continuously redefined and never solved.

  9. The aim of the DCMR Develop a system, which able to maximize military security at the least sacrifice of other social values.

  10. Officer corps is the active directing element of the military structure and responsible for the military security of the society. The state is the active directing element of the society and responsible for the allocation of the resources among important values. Military professionalism The core of the DCMR is the relationship between the state and officer corps

  11. Civilian/Democratic Control • „Civilian”= democratic (political) • „Control” = guiding and checking

  12. Democratic Control in wider sense • The guiding and checking role of state power branches. • Civic activity, NGO-s, media geared towards the military • Members in the military (Their democratic values, attitudes).

  13. Narrower understanding of democratic control • State power branches ( legislative, executive, juridical) are able to withhold military abusing its power and • the system has to withhold the executive power too using force for its particular purpose.

  14. Democratic control • Depoliticisation of the military • Demilitarisation of the society • Militarysation of the military profession (empower its professionalism and prestige)

  15. Democratic control in Hungary Democratic control of the AF`s: • legitimate the AF`s and the defense policy • confidence building in a foreign political sense and necessary for the Euro-Atlantic integration

  16. Initial steps in Hungary • 1989: the authority of the Communist Party was ended in the military • The changes of the constitution and the Defense Act clarified civilian competencies over the AF`s

  17. Early 1990`s Hungary developed the legal and organizational frameworks of democratic control in which: • the Parliament decide about operational issues and the Defense Committee permanently checking the military-related decisions and procedures; • the President is the Commander in Chief with rather “ceremonial” roles in peace; • the MoD (executive power) has most of the regulating rights towards the military on daily bases; • the GS leads the AF`s and works out suggestions during the decision making process for the MoD.

  18. Remaining problems • Separated MoD and GS • Lack of civilian experts • Lack of procedural routine • Widening gap between the society and the military

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