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| Volume XIV, Winter 2007, Number 4 |
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ABSTRACT
Civil-Military Relations in North Africa
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| David S. Sorenson |
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Dr. Sorenson is professor of international studies at the U.S. Air Force Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base.
Many factors shape the role of the military in the political life of a country: the status of the armed forces relative to the population (heroic saviors or marauding bands, for example), the societal commitment to democratic values, the military role in nation-building, geopolitical issues, and, most significant, the vision for both the military and the polity of the proper place for the soldier in national governance. This article considers how three factors operate in shaping civil-military relations in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya: (1) the role of the military in political affairs, governing directly, or shaping the governing process behind the scenes, (2) the part that the armed forces play in nation-building; and (3) the military embrace of the language of nationalism to further their particular interests.
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