Security Threats, Militarization and the Democratic Accountability of the Use of Military Force

This workshop will examine the interrelationship between security threats, the militarisation of security policy, and the democratic accountability of the use of military force. Its main goal is the development of a theory of militarisation of the security discourse in democracies that are challenged by security threats, based on a comparative empirical analysis of new and established democracies in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. It is guided by three main questions:

• Why and under which circumstances do democratic governments mobilise the military to counter security threats?

• How do democratic governments legitimise the military’s deployment against external and domestic threats?

• What are the effects of militarisation on the democratic accountability of the use of military force?

By answering these questions the workshop will contribute to security studies, the comparative politics of democracies, and civil-military relations research, in two ways:

• Empirically, the workshop will discuss 12 in-depth case studies on the militarisation of security policy in established and new democracies that are challenged by external or domestic existential threats.

• Theoretically, it will draw on the case study findings to develop an empirically saturated theory of the militarisation of security policy and its effects on the democratic accountability of military force in democracies.

The papers will be published in an edited volume, which will be co-edited by Dr. David Kuehn of the GIGA and Prof. Yagil Levy of the Open University, Israel.