Global-Local Dynamics of Order. A Theory of Civil-Military Adaptation

Civilian control of armed forces is a central premise of democracy. Theories of civil-military relations seek to explain how to achieve civilian control and democratic oversight of the military. But why do militaries in intractable orders (insecure and fragile states in transition) change, if there is a lack of established democratic institutions? Aiming to shed more light on the global-local dynamics of order, this talk presents a middle range theory of civil-military adaptation, showing that militaries change differently than previously understood. Especially in hybrid, and often post-colonial orders, in which armed forces have historically retained a significant amount of political agency, the armed forces adapt in response to international and domestic constraints without formally seizing power, because a formal coup d’état bears an immense potential of sanctioning by both domestic and international actors. This talk draws on primary data collected by the author during field research in four sample regions in Pakistan: Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. 

Dr. Cornelia Baciu is Researcher at the Centre for Military Studies Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. She specialised in global governance, normative orders and conflict research. Cornelia Baciu was a teaching and postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. She is author of Civil-Military Relations and Global Security Governance. Strategy, Hybrid Orders and the Case of Pakistan (paperback 2022) and co-edited Peace, Security and Defence Cooperation in Post-Brexit Europe (with John Doyle, 2019).

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