(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)
A corrupt government, or one which lacks popular legitimacy, can use its defence forces to keep itself in power:
· A government can gather intelligence to uncover potential resistance (7.2.8), so that it can imprison or assassinate opposition leaders.
· It can use the army to maintain law and order – despite the fact that army skills are inappropriate for use against fellow citizens (7.4.1.3). In Sudan, for example, “[o]ver 60% of government expenditure goes on defence and security”.[1]
· If the army is independently powerful it can choose whether or not to keep a government in power, as in Egypt for example.[2]
· In some cultures it is expected that a president would have all the trappings of power; these include a prominent military capability. Parading a defence capability is a demonstration of power or an attempt to boost public morale;[3] it can just be entertainment.[4]
Needless to say, these types of defence spending are for the benefit of those in power – not for the benefit of the population they should be serving.
© PatternsofPower.org, 2014
[1] On 1 February 2014, The Economist published a report on Sudan, entitled Downhill, which was available at http://www.economist.com/node/21595505. It described how “[t]he army, which Mr Bashir once headed, still underpins the regime.”
[2] On 23 June 2012, the BBC published a report entitled Egypt's army in control of vast business empire which described the extent of the army's wealth, estimated at anything between 8% and 40% of GDP. This report was available in February 2014 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18548659.
It is no coincidence that the army was sufficiently powerful to topple President Morsi on 4 July 2013. The BBC report on his removal was entitled Egypt crisis: Army ousts President Mohammed Morsi; it was available in February 2014 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23173794.
[3] Military parades have been widely used to demonstrate power. Soviet military parades were featured each year in Red Square, and the tradition has now been revived by President Putin – as reported by The Guardian for example on 22 January 2008 in an article entitled Putin to revive Soviet muscle-flexing parade, which was available in February 2014 at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/22/russia.international. A YouTube video of the 2013 Russian military parade was available in February 2014 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yyRLjvEphI.
[4] As an example of a parade as pure entertainment, a YouTube video entitled Amazing Thailand's military parade was available in February 2014 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDZUoR583Es.