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The Economic and Historical Penpective

OrgaaiLatiurud

Capacicy sad Milital)' Devdopmeac

Te The contribulluns and diS(ussions in these conferences show their uuly inlcrdiscipl inary dmra..:lcr. as does lhc l i5t of par1icipan!s. A II the par lit.:ipauls drav. n lfum the major StK:ial sdcnccs· hi~tvry, military scit;nce, political s.:ience, and sociology. We arc gratdul fo man} professional colleagues who have contributed to the three conferences. Professor Olson's role has already been re ferred to in the dedication_ Special mention should be made of Professor Thomas Schelling .and Admiral Sransfteld Turner, bolh of whom are on the faculty of the tJni\'crsity of Maryt.arld. Both have gh,en invaluable assl!o1am:e in tcmts of pwfcsslooal ad,;icc and umc as discussion lead ers. Particular thanks are due lo Mr. Andrew MarshaU. lie initiated the tdea of these conferences and h1s encouragement and support tbroughout the arc ackMwlcdgcd gralcfully )JJJJJ)JJJ) )))) ))JJJJJJJ)) )) JJJ))))J)))))) J J

SECTION ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE

I'ROCEEOINGS

• Chaoler I. Summary Conferences u·nu.:" b; hdltk Hrtthltng, l!tl!vc:rsHy uf M.uyland at College Park

Chapter I

Summary of the Conferences

Frank Brechling

lnUiaJ Motiution fu.-I he Confcnnce Series All uf :.tudy h:nd to bt: somewhat self-em:loSt:d, a tendency strengthened by the growing specialization of scholarship. This bas perhaps tended to be particularly true of the study of military affairs, dmuinah .. -d tmJitlonally by mtlital) personnel, and hi::.torians and polili caJ scll..-nlists. Coumcr to this trend is the drive by some social scientist!> to rciK:h outsiA1h ofmilil.ary capabil ity ""ithin a ..:ouutry in terms of the country's economy, society, polil) and history? If nfk! luub al countries in the world toda)', and tries to hml.. along th..:1r li1hn-c social. economic and political traj.:clorics, can om: !h..:u also prt:dit:lllll:ir future military capabilitie:.? It v.as th!i! pur pus..: uf 1h;; lhr-c..: conf..:n:nccs organiLed by IRIS to address [bi!> lllndamental qu\!slion. The remainder of I his chapter is organized as foUows. F trsl, I he major of the conferences are briefly. Following is a summary of the papers and of the three conferences. Finally, some ideas and suggestions for furtber investigacions which emerged al the conferences are pr.:senled

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I he prunary llmctiun of the armed forces of most t:ounlrics is to act in support of a 's policies in its relations with orhcr na! ions. This may take the form of defensive or aggressive stances {saber raiding) or It is a country's ability lo perform lhis primary milicary function lhat is referred to, in this volume, as its miliiUI')' capohili(r.ln the special United States-Chinese oonlext, this tenn is here used to refer to China's capability to engage in serious aggressive behavior vis·S-vis tbc United States mainland OTto inhibit significantly, by military ac tions or credible threats. Uniled States activities abroad, especially in the Far East.' In addition to the above primary function, military establishmt.:nts have a range of functions that vary in their importance from country lo coun· try, and tllat may. in particular circumstances, affect a guvcmmenl's definition of, and goab with to, military Cajl3bi!ity • Then.-arc internal security and police functions, provide and political At times the anned filfces also acl as emergency rescue services in the cases o( floods. earthquakes, and simiZar disasters. 1 Tbc definition of military capability thus excludes questions of why one coufl try or another might wi;;h 10 engage in or abstain from military threats or in partit:ular "lltc buildup of military !:ap.abilily huwt:vu, 1mply il ""iltingne;:.lo use 11 in some circumstances. :I h.: inlcmal h.!!Kiiun secms lo have been very imponam in the Chi nese 1-'cnrle'; Liberation Army (PI.A). Recenlly, howcwr, aOOur one million were fmm the f>Li\ !o the Pt:Opk's Anm.'d Police (JIAJ') Sec the comribu!Jott b) Sh.Jmbaugh 1o the third in chis voltJmc ))JJJ)lllJ • In recent decades the international peacekeeping functions of the military. ll!>l!i!lly uudcr the ,auspices of the Nalions or

NATO, have become more frequent and important.

In some cases, the military engages in signif!C3nt business and cmnmen:-ia! activit it--s, which in most countries are performed by the civilian privaic or public sectors. 1 Allimcs,lhc military also performs the: function ofcs!ablist1ing and maintaining dictatorial f{lrms of government, (which often serves the purpose of redistributing income in favor of the dictator's clan or the entire mililary establishment itself). l::ven in dcmocracic.s, "military-industrial complexes'' often sw; cccd, as interest groups, in establishing and enhancing !heir daim on resources for distributional purposes under lhe cover of"national dciCnsc." 'ihcre arc "parade" functions, wb.K:b provhle rocial and polittcal cohesion, enhance nalional p1ide, and anract forei£111oufists. Ju conventional analyses, the military capabili1y of a defined above, is usually measured in lerms of such things as the currently available arnounl of military han:h\are. size of the mtlitary establish· mcnt. and !he nf nudca.r weapons. Such mcasun.::s of military t:apability have at least two shortcomings: • They tend to rn:gl":t important modern technical and human capital aspects of military capability. Training and motivation of military personnel, the internal mililaf)' organization, advam:cd commum c1n lhe United States the Army Corps of Engineers engages in such nonmilitary

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Let us elaborale some ofthese points.

• Some nations,

100ivation

• The motivation

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