Does the military execute policy or make it? 

National and international security alike depend on the military being both willing and able to comply with the political preferences of a civilian-led government, but how can we accurately describe the role of the military in politics? 


Image by Magnific

Drawing on a new theory of military compliance and a method for structured, theory-grounded analysis, a doctoral thesis by Fredrik Westerlund from Åbo Akademi University, Finland, presented a new framework for describing the role of the military in foreign policy. The thesis applies the framework to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military campaigns in Georgia and Syria.

Westerlund sought to contribute to research by describing, in a reliable and meaningful way, how the military relates to civilian authority. He did this by presenting a framework which proposes that the role of the armed forces in policy implementation can be characterised through four ideal-type roles: Servant, Shaper, Sinker and Spoiler.

“The roles are based on the degree of willingness and ability to comply with political preferences. A Servant is both willing and able to serve the political leadership, whereas a Shaper has considerable capacity to influence policy but uses this position to advance the military’s own interests. A Sinker is willing but has limited ability to adhere to the preferences of the political leadership. Finally, a Spoiler is neither willing nor able to follow political preferences,” explained Westerlund.

To assess the analytical framework, he applied it to two contemporary Russian military operations: those in Georgia in 2008 and Syria in 2015–2020. These examples provided theoretically significant contexts, as the cases represented the full range of variation in military campaigns conducted beyond Russia’s borders during the Putin era.

“To date, few studies have examined civilian control over the use of Russian military force abroad since Vladimir Putin came to power. At the same time, the Kremlin has repeatedly used armed force in its foreign policy, with significant consequences for international security,” he continued.

“My thesis offers concepts and tools for understanding why the military complies, how civilian and military actors interact in Russia, and how the country thinks and acts in war.”

The results showed that Western theories of civil-military relations are useful for studying military operations during the Putin era. “The findings provide new empirical knowledge about contemporary Russian civil-military relations, including the description of the armed forces as a Servant during Russia’s military campaign in Georgia,” said Westerlund.

“They also support the hypothesis that the military, on behalf of Russia’s political leadership, repeatedly and flagrantly violates national and international law in order to fulfil political preferences.”

The thesis can be read here.