The Military's Corporate Interests

Abstract

In “Civil–Military Relations in Indonesia and the Philippines,” Mark Beeson argued that the likelihood of future military interventions in Indonesia and the Philippines was best understood by examining the countries' political economies. Beeson contended that because the Indonesian military remains heavily involved in economic activities, it will likely remain politically quiescent. And because fewer opportunities exist for the Philippine military to engage in business undertakings, the specter of further military interventions remains. Beeson's argument is characteristic of the corporate interest perspective in the civil-military relations literature. This article examines the effectiveness of corporate interest arguments in explaining military interventions into the political arena. It advances two main arguments: first, corporate interest propositions are under-specified and not analytically useful to explain military interventions. Second, by concentrating on the corporate interests of the Indonesian and Philippine militaries, Beeson omitted more salient factors that have led to prior interventions in the two countries.