Fantastic article with theoretical contributions (about generations in CMR studies. I’m 3rd, what about you?) and pushing all of us discussing the question to take the diversity of cases seriously.
#civmilsky
Civil-Military Relations in the Prevention of Democratic Backsliding Christoph Harig Abstract Most civil-military relations scholarship implicitly or explicitly sees the military as a threat to democratic institutions and governments. In recent years, however, there have been several instances in which democratically elected governments tried to use the armed forces for undermining democratic institutions. Hence, military leaders may sometimes have to contest lawful political decisions if these potentially threaten democracy. This challenges fundamental normative assumptions in civil-military relations research. The present article therefore asks: Which analytical tools does civil-military relations scholarship provide for assessing the appropriate role of military leaders in the prevention of democratic backsliding? Should there be general, prescriptive normative theories for military leaders’ appropriate behaviour in contexts of democratic backsliding? The article begins by reviewing civil-military relations scholarship’s perspectives on the appropriate political role of armed forces and discusses how these are challenged by democratic backsliding. Building on previous attempts to conceptualise military dissent and the military’s role in autocratization processes, the article argues that military behaviour in backsliding processes cannot be assessed without taking military role conceptions as explanatory variable for military leaders’ ideas about appropriate behaviour into account. Illustrative examples from the Americas then assess military leaders’ reaction to backsliding attempts and their consequences for democracy and civil-military relations. The findings underline that prescriptive guidance for military disobedience should be treated with caution.
Can civil-military relations scholarship provide prescriptive normative guidance for military leaders' appropriate behaviour in democratic backsliding?
My new article in @journalofgss.bsky.social debates this civil-military conundrum
academic.oup.com/jogss/articl... #CivMilSKy
Hello @carriealee.bsky.social, this War Room podcast is no longer available at the original link and I am unable to locate your conversation with Sharon Weiner elsewhere online. Might you be able to direct me to another source for the recording? I would love to listen. #CivMilSky
shankskaurin.wordpress.com/2026/03/24/c...
Sharing some (roughly drafted) remarks from a talk in 2023 since we are discussing CMR in class this week. #CivMilSky #MilitaryEthics #Profession
There is a CivMil element to this. The military isn’t supposed to obey illegal orders, and destroying civilian infrastructure to pressure a government is illegal.
But there are three reasons to think that won’t matter if after initial advice, Trump decides to insist.
1/5
#civmilsky #menasky
An Army veteran, too. Woman charged with attempted murder under Georgia abortion law 19thnews.org/2026/03/woma... via @19thnews.org #civmilsky
Just sharing this as some have raised questions about the credibility of this particular story (not to negate the many other things we should be worried about with respect to the war). #civmilsky
www.friendlyatheist.com/p/before-you...
To what extent does conducting what the C-i-C and SecDef have already called a war that will last at least 4-5 weeks without a congressional authorization or declaration of war constitute obeying an obviously unlawful order?
#CivMilSky
This is one rich piece of #CivMilSky
What is the NDS/ National Defense Strategy, and why does it matter? #milsky #civmilsky open.substack.com/pub/cobaugh/...
Back in 2020, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper referred to American cities during the George Floyd protests as the "battle space". He did this in a call with governors. He later apologized. It was good that he did so.
Fellow citizens are not, and should not be construed as enemies.
#CivMilSky
Minneapolis municipal notice of National Guard activation making it clear that it's there to support the city and its residents at local request, due to the disruption caused by feds.
Elsewhere I saw them handing out Dunkin's to folks.
#CivMilSky
What does the distinctive militarization of Trump 2.0 look like and what should be done about it?
Some thoughts from me in my contribution contribution to the important @democracyproject.bsky.social.
#CivMilSky
My review of 'Dictators' Endgames' by Croissant/Eschenauer-Engler/Kuehn is now out in @afssage.bsky.social
The book examines the behaviour of military leaders when a dictator’s political survival depends on their support and is well worth the read
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #CivMilSky
HR McMaster, known non-practitioner of McMasterism, argues that removing Maduro was essentially great.
Watch from 5:45 for some elaborate nonsense on how kidnapping Maduro was all about supporting Venezuela's sovereignty
www.cnbc.com/video/2026/0... #CivMilSky
Hey, was this guy in the military? I'm not sure. The indicators are very subtle and hard to read. #civmilsky
Very much worth reading.
Still struggle to understand how you can argue that even 'unprincipled principals'' legal claims should be superior to the military's judgement while later saying you don't believe "that the National Guard would willingly turn themselves into a repressive force"
#CivMilSky
Your #CivMilSky crisis called. It would like to have a word
I'm going to do a blog post on my Unprincipled Principal piece and how I view the problem now. Likely this week.
#Ethics #CivMilSky #MilSky #MilitaryEthics
