Suchergebnisse

The recently tabled parliamentary report on the South African Military Academy did not pose the most fundamental question concerning the existence of the Military Academy: why is it important that soldiers should become academically educated? Does sound military training not offer sufficient professional preparation for soldiers? This article attempts to explain why soldiers need to be academically educated, while considering the influence of the "military mind" on the education of armed forces. The underlying argument is that soldiers need to be empowered by acquiring a thorough academic understanding of three particular environments: the higher order politicosecurity environment, the defence environment, and the military environment.

The article investigates the military involvement of the United States of America in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during the Clinton administration. The aim is not to explain or analyse the nature and extent of U.S. military support to different states, or the region as a whole. Rather, the article attempts to create an understanding for the U.S. attitude towards military involvement in SSA. The suggestion is made that the U.S. did not have much interest in the security of SSA and was therefore reluctant to be militarily involved in the region. However, as the only superpower in the post-Cold War the U.S. had a responsibility for the security of SSA - even if that required the use of military means. Thus, the U.S. was confronted with a duality lack of interest vis-à-vis "forced" involvement. In SSA there was a need for U.S. military support for and involvement in the security of the region. However, U.S. military support was not always positively received and there was a fair amount of suspicion in the region towards U.S. involvement - especially military involvement. States at the receiving end of U.S. military support also had to confro nt a duality need vis-à-vis suspicion.

The defence policy of the Russian Federation is to a great extent influenced by the experiences andculture taken over from the former Soviet Union. It is a policy reflecting a unique historical experience,the geographical environment and a distinctive political culture. nus experience and culture haveresulted in a deep-rooted feeling of insecurity that serves as a point of departure for their defence policy.This is being strengthened by a strategic culture with a leadership that is extremely security consciousand a society that accepts military values and responsibility without question. There is. furthermore, ahuge suspicion towards foreigners, an understanding of the dangers of weakness and a tendency to viewthe international politics in terms of power.The changing global strategic environment of the post Cold War era, the break-up of the Warsaw Pactand the Soviet Union and economic realities necessitated a change in the Russian Federation's view ofsecurity and their defence policy. A shift in emphasis from a military-political focus to a welfareopulencefocus was required. The smaller amount of resources allocated to defence necessitated a cooperativeapproach towards security in the international environment The Russian Federation still viewsitself as an important world power and is accordingly on the lookout for ways to influence powerpolitics.

Offering a contemporary perspective on military culture within Africa and with contributions from scholars and practitioners from around the world, this work presents the argument that African armed forces need to come to terms with the elements of military culture if they want to become more professional. To this end, the book first focuses on the theory of military culture, its implications for civil-military relations, and the role of the armed forces in society before examining a number of cases, from Canada, Australia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and

The article explores the link between defence sector reform, military effectiveness, and education. During the post-1994 transition, defence sector reform in South Africa primarily involved the 'transformation' of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The transformation of the military, though, was predominantly driven by the notion of racial representation with little emphasis on embedding military effectiveness as a central element of the transformation effort. While, education was recognised as a key element in the transformation of the military, the emphasis was on the programmes of the National War and Defence Colleges in Pretoria, targeting senior military officers. However, the accreditation of these institutional programmes through alignment with civilian universities was problematic and has forced the military to critically evaluate the pathway for the development of its officer corps. The evolving approach of the SANDF towards military education provides a useful case study to highlight the importance of a long-term view of military effectiveness, underpinned by a committed and educated officer corps, as a central component of defence reform initiatives.