The Changing Dynamics of Civil Military Relations in Pakistan

The Changing Dynamics of Civil Military Relations in Pakistan offers a unique insiders' perspective on the political climate in the country, presenting the challenges established in boundaries of interaction between the state and its military. This book argues that the prospects of another military coup in Pakistan are minimal because of the military extending its presence in the civil arenas and thus discovering new avenues of concretising its hegemony. Based on primary data sources in the form of interviews with senior military personnel, civil bureaucrats and other relevant technocrats and using military and government publications to verify their claims, the author discusses the military's previous takeovers and future plans from a defense point of view. The book uncovers how the military has created a space and rationale for itself in non-defense sectors. Providing a first-hand account of why and how the military extends itself beyond proscribed fields of responsibility and their expected outcomes, the book also provides a theoretical context to the military's hegemonic status using literature on civil military relations in general and Pakistan in particular. The book uses Pakistan as a case study to show how civil military imbalances in the world over can be re-evaluated. It will be of interest to researchers studying political science, public policy, peace and security studies, governance and institutions, law and South Asian Studies.

Rabia Chaudhry is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Public Policy and Governance (CPPG), Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) Lahore, Pakistan.

Chapter 1. Re-Conceptualising Military Hegemony: How the dynamics of civil-military relations are changing in Pakistan; Chapter 2. Strategic evolution of Pakistan military as a hegemon; Chapter 3. Fauji culture under a 'development' umbrella; Chapter 4. Is there an 'island of excellence' in Pakistan? Chapter 5. Defence or 'development': Frontier Works Organization - thriving at the crossroads of civil military binaries; Chapter 6. From cornflakes to cement: Fauji Foundation - a business empire or military welfare? Chapter 7. Conclusion