Militarism, its Dimensions and Corollaries: An Attempt at Conceptual Clarification

Abstract

The term militarism is used extensively for both analytical and propagandistic purposes, serving as a label for a many different phenomena. In the Western, liberal tradition, most authors emphasize the notion of excess (military spending, warfare, etc.), while in the Marxist tradition, militarism is seen as linked to imperialism and monopoly capitalism. Borrowing ideas from both traditions, we suggest that a discussion of militarism can be organized along three dimensions: (1) the behavioral, (2) the attitudinal or ideological, and (3) the structural. It is convenient to subdivide the latter into national structure and inter national structure. Under each of these headings a number of indicators of militarism are discussed. The dimensions are correlated, but correlations are generally weak. More research is needed to determine more exactly the relationship between, for instance, the growth of a military-industrial complex and the application of violence in foreign policy. Historical cases of militarism vary considerably from one another. Therefore the term militarism should not be exclusively linked to a specific phenomenon, but should serve as a name for a series of related phenomena.