The Professional Military and War Toleration
Abstract
Since the end of the Second World War, low intensity conflicts have become real issues for democratic countries. Small wars are usually low in intensity but long in duration, where not only democracies but other nation states have to face largely invisible insurgent groups, terrorist organizations, criminal networks, or rebellious bands while also facing institutional, legal, and ethical constraints. A real challenge is how long a democracy can deploy its military forces in low intensity conflict and operate in sufficient time to achieve victory. This research argues that having a professional military extends war toleration and maintains legitimacy longer than in a country with a conscript military. In order to understand the relationship between military systems and war toleration, this thesis suggests a quantitative method, including descriptive statistical comparison, survival analyses, and regression analyses. The evidence supports the hypothesis that professional military systems have higher survival probability over time, while the impact of other important variables, such as national power, military strength, regime type, and casualties, are also measured in the models.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA620755
Entities
People
- Laszlo Tar
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School