Challenges in building partner capacity: Civil–military relations in the United States and new democracies

Abstract

The main emphasis in US security assistance is ‘building partner capacity’. To understand prospects for building capacity implies knowledge of the security sector, including the armed forces and also national police and intelligence agencies. The scholarly sub-discipline that should be useful for analysis of a nation's use of armed forces is civil–military relations as it ostensibly directs attention to when and how civilians choose to utilize their nation's armed forces. The goal in this article is to further refine the field of civil–military relations by focusing attention on two main concepts – democratic civilian control and strategy – and discussing their relevance in the context of building partner capacity.