Introduction: Asian Military Evolutions – Entrenching Varieties of Civil–Military Relations and Their Security Initiatives in Asia

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to point out the limitations of existing frameworks of civil-military relations. Foremost in orthodox civil-military relations theorising is the question of democratic control followed by the adjoining, newer paradigm of ‘control, effectiveness and efficiency’. We also review a section of localized civil-military relations literature labelled as ‘Civil-Military Relations for Development?’ with a dedicated focus on Asian global south civil-military relations perspectives. Before introducing the contents of the book, this chapter treats the increasingly conscious overlap between Asian CMR and military operations other than war (MOOTW) under the label ‘Asian Defence Diplomacy as an Annex of Developmental Civil Military Relations’. Throughout, the chapter provides preliminary ideas on the common characteristics that characterize the Asian hybrid model of civil-military relations dubbed as ‘Asian Military Evolutions’. The latter concept addresses both deliberate and accidental political efforts to defuse disputes between civilian politicians and military leaders over the operation of political order, and builds on innovative attempts to treat civil-military relations as a productive field for defence diplomacy and MOOTW. Asian civil-military relations practice fudges democracy and authoritarianism along with blending civil and military spheres.