Skip to main content

Can the Military Be Entrusted with the Role of Police?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 552 Accesses

Abstract

With the shift in paradigm from territorial to human security, the role of the military has changed drastically since the post-cold-war era. Instead of fighting wars and protecting national sovereignty and territory, the military is now engaged in fighting for peace. As such, the military can no longer use their power for destruction, repression, or dominance. They need to use their power to build democracy and uphold human rights. They need to protect the world’s citizens from war, terrorism, poverty, hunger, environmental degradation, and other adversaries and play the role of police as far as safety is concerned. My chapter focuses on the question: can the military be entrusted with the role of police, and is it desirable too? The methodology adopted is analytical, comparative, and empirical.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agamben, Giorgio. 2005. State of exception. Translated by Kevin Attell. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunker, Robert J. 2008. Convergence: The changing missions of police and the military. In The police and the military: Future challenges and opportunities in public safety, ed. Mary O’Dea and John Jarvis, vol. 4, 37–45. Washington, DC: Futures Working Group, US Department of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • COIN Manual. 2007. The U.S Army/Marine corps counterinsurgency field manual 3-24/3-33.5 (COIN Manual). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dandekar, Christopher, and James Gow. 2000. Military culture and strategic peacekeeping. In Peace operations between war and peace, ed. Erin A. Schmidl. London: Frank Cass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunlap, Charles, Jr. 2001. The thick green line: The growing involvement of military forces in domestic law enforcement. In Militarizing the American criminal justice system: The changing roles of the armed forces and the police, ed. Peter B. Kraska. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duschinski, Haley. 2009. Destiny effects: Militarization, state power, and punitive containment in Kashmir Valley. Anthropological Quarterly 82 (3): 691–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gandhi, Varun. 2012. Clinks in the armour. The Times of India, May 25. New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geyer, M. 1989. The militarization of Europe, 1914–1945. In The militarization of the western world, ed. J. Gillis, 65–102. New Brunswick, NJ and London: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, Anthony. 1985. The nation-state and violence. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, Asha. 2003. Evolving role of the military. In Military rule and democratization: Changing perspectives, ed. Asha Gupta, 1–24. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzog, Sergio. 2001. Militarization and demilitarization processes in the Israeli and American police forces: Organizational and social aspects. Policing and Society 11: 181–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, David. 2007. One, two, three, many legal orders: Legal pluralism and the cosmopolitan dream. New York University Review of Law and Social Change 31: 641–659.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraska, Peter B. 2007. Militarization and policing—Its relevance to 21st century police. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 1 (4): 501–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, Catherine. 2001. Feminist emotions. In The self and power, ed. Jeannette Mageo, 194–215. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2002. Making war at home in the United States: Militarization and the current crisis. American Anthropologist 104 (3): 723–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mama, Amina. 2001. Gender in action: Militarism and war. AGI Newsletter 8, June.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matić, Renato. 2003. The social role of military and police institutions in the 21st century. Polemos 6 (1–2): 117–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuciari, Marina. 2002. Flexibility towards diversity: New skills for military personnel in PSOs. Paper submitted to the Annual Conference of the Committee on Women in NATO Forces, Brussels, Belgium, May 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padgaonkar, Dileep. 2012. A left turn in France. The Times of India, May 8. New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pandit, Rajat. 2011. Army wants own empowered police force. The Times of India, April 25. New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenau, James N., and Ernst Otto Czempiel, eds. 1992. Governance without government: Order and change in world politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandy, Leo R., and Ray Perkins Jr. 2002. The nature of peace and its implications for peace education. The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution 4 (2): 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanford, Victoria. 2003. The ‘grey zone’ of justice: NGOs and rule of law in post-war Guatemala. Journal of Human Rights 2 (3, Sep.): 393–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, Dale. 2010. Military involvement in law enforcement. International Review of the Red Cross 92 (878, June): 453–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, B., B. Kubu, L. Fridell, C. Rees, T. Jordan, and J. Chesney. 2005. Cop crunch: Identifying strategies for dealing with the recruitment and hiring crisis in law enforcement. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, Tony. 2010. Differentiating between police and military action. Current Intelligence, April 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolin, Sheldon. 1960. Politics and vision: Continuity and innovation in western political thought. Boston: Little, Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolacott, Martin. 2002. Strong enough for war, but not strong enough for peace. The Guardian, October 25.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gupta, A. (2019). Can the Military Be Entrusted with the Role of Police?. In: Ratuva, S., Compel, R., Aguilar, S. (eds) Guns & Roses: Comparative Civil-Military Relations in the Changing Security Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2008-8_17

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics