Military Government Research Articles

The Development of the Structure of Feeling in the Brazilian Liberation Theology Movement

Raymond Williams’s concept of the “structure of feeling” aims to describe the shared experiences, attitudes, and emotions of social groups at specific historical moments. However, this theory has been criticized for lacking a rigorous theoretical framework, clear definitions, and boundaries, as well as for failing to adequately explain its interaction with mainstream ideology. This paper attempts to address these issues through the lens of the Brazilian Liberation Theology movement. The “structure of feeling” established by Brazilian Liberation Theology departed from the traditional hierarchical system of the Church, aligning itself instead with emerging cultures and the practices of grassroots church communities. Under the repression of the military government, the mainstream Church began to accept certain aspects of Liberation Theology rather than viewing it solely as radical and threatening. Although Liberation Theology gradually waned after the fall of the military regime, its adjusted “structure of feeling”—devoid of its radical elements but still focused on social justice and poverty—profoundly impacted the global Catholic Church. The experience of the Brazilian Liberation Theology movement illustrates that a “structure of feeling” can transcend the dichotomy between consciousness and materiality and the crux lies in individuals discovering and asserting their own existence; such a “structure of feeling” can either emerge from within existing ideologies or challenge them directly; its relationship with mainstream ideology is significantly shaped by specific historical contexts; certain facets of emerging emotions are selectively incorporated into mainstream ideology, typically in ways that mitigate their more radical implications.

A decolonial approach to Brazilian environmental policy since 1972

The aim of this article is to discuss the neoliberal project as a colonial determinant of the environmental policy in Brazil since 1972. The 1972 Stockholm Conference is used as a milestone for analysis. The results show that, since the military regime in the 1970s and through successive elected governments, whether right- or left-wing, federal policies have consistently aimed to boost the country’s economic growth. Even the few socio-environmental advances identified during the first administrations of the Labour Party (2003–2010) resulted from processes focused on the ‘deterritorialisation’ of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities. The ultra-liberal project adopted by the Bolsonaro administration (2019–2022) accelerated these processes and promoted an aggressive denialist, anti-environmental and anti-Indigenous agenda. Given the current political scenario (Lula administration 2023–2026), this study makes the following main contributions: it offers a new orientation for the environmental and Indigenous agendas developed by the progressive sector in Brazil and advocates for a science orientated towards contributing to a new environmental and Indigenous agenda in the country.

Security or Democracy?

For much of the modern history of U.S.-Thai relations, the United States has tried to balance democracy and security, with the latter mostly taking precedence. During the Cold War, the United States sought to keep Thailand anti-communist by supporting various military governments. Democracy was an afterthought, though the United States purported to promote it. After the Cold War, other strategic concerns replaced the fear of communism, specifically the rise of China. By examining the Cold War period in comparison to the years 2014 to the present, we can see a pattern in U.S. foreign policy toward Thailand. This article draws on archival work in the United States and Thailand, along with recently published sources to focus on U.S. policy during the Cold War and the 2014 to the present. Drawing parallels between challenges the U.S. government faced during the Cold War and recent events, I argue that the United States has pursued an unbalanced policy between security and democracy and will continue to do so to protect its interests.

The Impact of Political Interference on the Judiciary: India Vs. Pakistan

This paper investigates the significant effects of political interference on the judiciary in India and Pakistan, two countries with a common colonial history but differing paths since gaining independence. The judiciary serves as a fundamental pillar of democratic governance, designed to function independently while protecting the rule of law and upholding constitutional rights. Nevertheless, in both nations, political influences have notably affected judicial operations, compromised judicial independence and eroding public confidence. Through a comparative examination, this study highlights important historical moments, landmark rulings, and constitutional frameworks that demonstrate the degree and nature of political interference within both judicial systems. In India, such interference has emerged through executive control over judicial appointments and crises, notably during the Emergency period from 1975 to 1977. In contrast, Pakistan's judiciary has experienced direct meddling from military governments and political authorities, frequently rationalized by the contentious Doctrine of Necessity. Additionally, the paper investigates how the judiciary has responded to these interferences, including instances of judicial activism and civil society initiatives that promote judicial independence, such as the Lawyers' Movement in Pakistan. Ultimately, this research emphasizes the urgent need for strong protections to ensure judicial independence, bolster public trust in the judiciary, and maintain democratic principles in both countries. By highlighting the comparative experiences of India and Pakistan, this study aims to enrich the broader discussion on judicial independence in South Asia.

The politics of medical expertise and substance control: WHO consultants for addiction rehabilitation and pharmacy education in Thailand and India during the Cold War.

This paper explores the role of World Health Organization (WHO) medical experts in ambitious projects for substance control during the Cold War in Thailand and India. The circumstances surrounding opium production in these two nations were very different, as were the reasons for requesting expert assistance from the United Nations. Whereas the Thai military regime was concerned with controlling illicit traffic to secure its borders, the Indian government wanted to direct its opium raw materials towards domestic pharmaceutical production. Overlapping and sometimes competing agendas of country governments and international agencies converged upon each project, complicating the consultants' work and requiring careful navigation. In both cases, medicine as a science concerned with human health and well-being was subordinated to more pressing agendas. At the same time, the article argues that WHO consultants left an important impact, though not necessarily due to their skills and training in medicine. Instead, they provided exemplars of sound governance and delivery of public health in a politically stable and economically developed country.

Beyond Order and Progress: Legitimacy and Nation-Building in Military Brazil

Abstract Between 1964 and 1985, a military dictatorship in Brazil combined an arsenal of political instruments—surveillance, violent repression, and propaganda, among others—to justify its illegal rule. How did the Brazilian military regime attempt to justify its claim to power for more than two decades? What discursive strategies did it use to win popular support, despite the violence it perpetrated? This paper investigates how discourse is used to legitimize power and create meaning in authoritarian regimes. Using ethnographic content analysis of archival materials, I pinpoint and analyze three key discursive frames employed in regime propaganda: “defenders of democracy,” “Great Brazil” and “model citizenship.” I argue that the Brazilian military regime used these frames to justify its authority, forge national values and social norms, and redefine the boundaries of the national community. These findings not only contribute to our understanding of authoritarian power that is wielded and legitimized through discourse, but also speak to the enduring consequences of authoritarianism in sociopolitical subjects.

Whispers of genocide: racist and colonial legal practices of the Brazilian dictatorship towards Indigenous peoples

ABSTRACT Towards the end of the 1960s, as accusations of genocide against Brazil appeared in several national and international newspapers, a sense of growing unrest crept into the military dictatorship. In 1968, the United Nations organised the First International Conference on Human Rights in Tehran. The dictatorship’s legal argumentation was based on an assimilationist orientation directed at ‘civilizing’ the Indigenous population and ignoring genocide allegations. The military regime intertwined a tradition of civilising mission with an authoritarian ideology of national unity to produce racist and colonial legal practices towards Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Reports of genocide caused quite a stir among activists and academics, but the Tehran episode also illustrates how events unfolding in international arenas such as the Conference did not substantially vex the Brazilian dictatorship. Exactly seven months after the meeting, the regime passed the Institutional Act 5, which inaugurated the most repressive years of its history. To subsidise such points, we review documents found in the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reflecting on Democratic and Economic Experiences in sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the First 3 Decades vs. the Second 3 Decades under Ghana’s Republics

This study sought to juxtapose Ghana’s first three decades [1960s-1980s] of democratic and military regimes with its second three decades [the 1990s-2010s] of only democratic regimes to understand its political and economic trajectories and dynamics. Drawing on the Mandate Theory and leveraging on the interpretivist paradigm, the study adopted a qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews to collect and analyze the views and opinions of respondents in Accra. The findings show that (a) The 1992 constitution has effectively halted Ghana’s 1960s and 80s cyclical political turmoil, ushering in ‘Pax Ghanaianica’, (b) There is a correlation between campaign promises and real GDP growth under the Fourth Republic, and (c) There is no correlation between a stable democracy and a stable real GDP growth under the Fourth Republic [i.e., The political campaign promises relative to power/electrification/energy have been unable to sustain production in Industry, Agriculture, Commerce, and Services]. The study concludes that Ghana’s roller coaster economic development may re-trigger ‘alien’ incursions into contemporary Ghanaian politics. It recommends that the political economy of Ghana should be structured to propel sustainable production in Industry, Agriculture, Commerce, and Services.

The side effects of a big push growth strategy: export incentives and primary education under military rule in Brazil, 1967–1985

Abstract During the military regime in Brazil (1964–1985), enrollment ratios in primary education grew substantially in the first decade under dictatorship, but stagnated in the mid-1970s. This paper shows that education spending might depend on the levels of centralisation in tax matters. Using panel data regressions and qualitative evidence, we argue that a massive big push industrialisation programme increased the pressure on external accounts, leading the government to intensify an export incentive policy based on tax subsidies that decreased the income of subnational governments. As a result, the capacity of funding mass education was compromised in the second half of the 1970s.

Cry with the Promised Land: singing for nationalist and religious environmentalism amid Burma’s war

ABSTRACT As the planet’s ecological crisis deepens, what can music reveal about the shapes that environmentalism is taking across the world? This article shows that music is a sensory pathway into notions of nature and of saving nature in repressed and marginalised places. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork since 2010 in the war-torn Burma–China–India borderlands, I explore a dissident rock band’s pioneering environmentalist song. The song’s Kachin Jinghpaw language lyrics talk of ecological destruction through a worldwide trope—‘nature is crying’—but express more specifically a nationalist and religious environmentalism. The song calls on Christian Kachin people to rescue a God-given national homeland, amid the broader album’s call for ethnonational resistance against a ‘colonising’ military regime in Burma (Myanmar). I explore the song’s lyrics and karaoke music video—line-by-line and scene-by-scene—as a way to sense both the logic and feeling of environmentalism emerging amid war.

The Ismail quarantine and its role in the Danube sanitary cordon (1813-1856)

In the present study, we aim to establish how the Ismail quarantine was established and functioned and how its role evolved within the sanitary cordon at the mouth of the Danube in the period 1813-1856. Our research is based on the critical study of new archival sources, from the Bessarabian Governor’s Chancellery Fund (National Archives of the Republic of Moldova), representing in particular various reports addressed by the quarantine bodies to the military governor of Bessarabia, as well as orders that the latter received from the governor general of Novorossia and Bessarabia regarding the activity of the Danube quarantines in Bessarabia. As a result of studying the archival documentary sources, we can conclude that in the evolution of the quarantine in Ismail during the reference period, two stages can be distinguished, separated by the year 1830. In the first stage, it led a precarious existence, without investments and being reserved a secondary role within the Danube sanitary corridor. In the second stage, it regains its role as a central quarantine, and the government invests massively to build a quarantine that would meet the demands of the development of international trade.

Science, health and the military dictatorship in Brazil: the Integrated Endemic Disease Program (PIDE) of CNPq (1973-1987)

This article analyzes the Integrated Endemic Disease Program (PIDE), which was established in 1973 by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development CNPq, financed by the Brazilian Funding Authority for Studies and Projects FINEP. The program was established to finance research on diseases considered strategic to the economic development plans of the military regime (1964-1985). Acknowledged to be a landmark program in the history of Brazilian parasitology, PIDE was set up during a period when the dictatorship was both violently repressing scholars and investing heavily in science and technology (S&T). The article examines the context in which the program was implemented and analyzes what it signified for planners in the S&T field and for the scientists who coordinated it. The contention is that PIDE was an example of how the scientific community managed to use financial and institutional resources available under the S&T policy in the 1970s to advance research on parasitic diseases and update its agenda. This analysis contributes to recent historiography that, based on specific historical cases, reflects on the paradoxical nature of a regime that, in its authoritarian modernization project, simultaneously persecuted scientists and supported science.

Civilian Control, Civil–Military Friction, and Foreign Military Intervention

The relationship between domestic civil–military relations and the use of foreign military force has been long debated. The two primary perspectives on the issue, civilian conservatism and military conservatism, are antithetical. The former maintains that military authorities are more likely to advocate for the use of military force than civilian counterparts, while the latter advances the opposite argument. Empirical research to date has added little clarity to the relationship. We shed new light on this long running controversy through analyses of a different, and arguably more appropriate, set of measures for the key variables of concern: civilian control, civil–military conflict, and the use of foreign military force. In zero-inflated negative binomial estimates of 165 countries from 1946 to 2010, we find consistent support for civilian conservatism. More specifically, when civilian control erodes or civil–military conflict reaches particularly high levels, the likelihood that a state will launch a foreign military intervention increases.

2차 미소공동위원회 당시 정치고문단의 창설과 활동

The Political Advisory Group(PAG) was organized based on the recognition that the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea(AMG) had no dedicated advisory body to consult on political issues in South Korea, despite the fact that AMG dealt with numerous political issues in South Korea in addition to its military duties. The creation of the PAG was the final destination of the ‘decentralized’ and ‘fluid’ organizational transformation of AMG’s political advisory machinery. AMG had previously utilized the military intelligence agencies, political advisors dispatched by the US State Department, Hodge’s personal political advisor, and the American delegates for U.S-U.S.S.R. Joint Commission as political advisory organizations. PAG was comprised of Korea experts and political analysts from AMG. PAG collected and analyzed political intelligence through continuous contact with South Korean political figures. Then, PAG framed and implemented AMG’s occupation policy In particular, PAG actively supported the American delegates for 2nd U.S-U.S.S.R. Joint Commission based on the political intelligence and understanding of South Korean political parties accumulated through its activities. Throughout the 2nd U.S-U.S.S.R. Joint Commission, PAG’s focus was on “creating a situation led by right-wing forces” in the list of Korean political parties and social groups that U.S-U.S.S.R. Joint Commission would consult. The existence and activities of PAG clearly show the way and perspective of AMG’s reorganization of South Korean politics at the time. In addition, the fact that the PAG was established as a permanent organization with a single function as a “political advisor” only in 1947 can be seen as evidence that the political advisory function of the AMG in the early days of the occupation was weak.

АНАЛІЗ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ БАНКІВ НА ФІНАНСОВОМУ РИНКУ УКРАЇНИ

The article analyzes the activity of domestic banks in Ukraine's financial market and examines the state and dynamics of the banking system's assets, capital, and liabilities for 2020-2023. Ukraine's financial market is experiencing significant challenges due to martial law, but these hard conditions also driving radical change and innovation in the sector. Due to the specificity of their activity, banks occupy a special place in the market economy and have a significant impact on the development of the financial market and the economy of the country. The integration of the national banking system into the world financial space is one of the leading directions of economic globalization, which strengthens the requirements for domestic banking institutions to increase their competitiveness and efficiency in providing financial services. This makes it necessary to study the essence and peculiarities of the functioning of banking institutions in the financial market of Ukraine in the modern, changing conditions of the development of economic relations between subjects of the national and international economy. The trend of consolidation of the banking system and withdrawal from the market of unreliable banks or banks whose capital belongs to under-sanctioned owners has been revealed. It was determined that despite the decrease in the number of these institutions, there was no significant deterioration of the main quantitative and qualitative indicators of the bank's activity, which indicates the stability of the efficiency of their activity. The state, dynamics, and quality of the banking system's credit portfolio were studied, and banks' compliance with NBU prudential regulations regarding credit risk was analyzed. The consistently high value of 45% of the share of bank assets in GDP confirms the overall efficiency of these financial institutions. A positive thing is the reduction of NPL before the full-scale invasion, but with its onset, this indicator increased again. A characteristic feature of the activity of domestic banks at present is a significant increase in the interest of institutions in investments in securities, in particular, military government bonds, the share of investments in these securities in the total assets of banks is rapidly increasing. To stabilize the financial state of the country's economy under the influence of "force majeure" circumstances, the banking system must constantly adapt its activities on the financial market, acting as an intermediary in the circulation of capital and financial resources

Campaigning with partners in the fourth age of SOF – the case of Norwegian – U.S. High North collaboration

Special Operations Forces (SOF) need to adapt to a new operating environment, characterized by competition, state-centric threats, and the use of conventional military power. The adaptation is a consequence of the existing causal relationship between given security environments and the role and activities of SOF. In the case of the High North, this entails SOF pivoting from being the supported entity to a supporting entity of the combined joint force. Norwegian, and U.S. SOF can effectively campaign in this theater by focusing at how different aspects influence future success. Aspects discussed are (i) Perspective, (ii) Conventional Military Capabilities, (iii) SOF Capabilities and Authorities (iv) Development and Investments, and (v) Adversaries and Competitors. By prioritizing and understanding how these aspects influence future campaigns, the Combined effort of Norway and the U.S. will be postured to support strategic objectives within the High North as defined by policymakers and military commanders.

Strategic design to ensure the sustainable productivity of military division government organization

This study aims to analyze the impact of the balanced scorecard and good corporate governance on the productivity of military government organizations and develop strategies to ensure their sustainability. This research implements a mixed-methods strategy utilizing a sequential explanatory research plan. This process is followed by a Mapping strategy, culminating in the presentation of conclusions. One hundred individuals who worked in military government agencies were surveyed as part of this study. This analysis comprises quantitative and qualitative data collected from 100 personnel of the government agency within the military division. This study determined that the environment is the primary factor in guaranteeing the long-term productivity sustainability of government organizations within military divisions. The implication is that leaders need to conduct in-depth research and be aware of environmental changes, both internal and external, that occur in military departmental government organizations.

Położenie polityczno-wojskowe Rzeszy Niemieckiej u progu II wojny światowej w świetle wykładu szefa wywiadu wojskowego pułkownika dyplomowanego Tadeusza Pełczyńskiego

After Adolf Hitler took power in Germany, the country was quickly remilitarised. Large-scale rearmament and expansion of the armed forces were closely monitored by the Polish military intelligence, which kept the supreme military authorities of the Second Polish Republic informed about the Third Reich’s preparations for war. The main task of the Second Department was to determine the probable date of the attack from this country. Already at the end of 1934, it was estimated that Germany would be ready for war within 6-8 years. The information reaching the headquarters of the “two” showed that at the turn of 1937 and 1938, the Third Reich’s preparations for a future armed conflict were intensified. At the end of the 1930s, the Second Department organized special lectures for senior commanders of the Polish army, presenting the military, political, economic and social situation of the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, i.e. the countries from which Poland faced the greatest danger. The idea was to make the senior command staff of the Polish Army acquainted with the current military and political situation of the Second Polish Republic and the scale of the threat from the two most dangerous neighbours. The presented lecture was delivered by the head of Polish military intelligence on November 29, 1937 in Rembertów and concerned Germany. It has great cognitive value because it allows us to understand the assessments of the Second Division regarding the military potential of the Third Reich and the expansion of the German armed forces. It is, in fact, a synthesis of the knowledge that the military intelligence of the Second Polish Republic had in 1937 about the German state ruled by the National Socialists.

Bangkok’s changing foodscape: mob urbanism and the mob(ile) foodscape

ABSTRACT The streetscapes of Bangkok are teeming with a diverse array of street food practices, encompassing both formal and informal approaches. Some of these street food traditions fall under the umbrella of urban informality, including informal street vending and communal public eating. Such practices are prevalent not only in various parts of Bangkok but also across other Asian cities. They bridge gaps in urban services and offer a wide range of affordable foods and goods. However, despite their evident contributions, street food vending practices are viewed as undesirable eyesores and as disorderly and chaotic urban elements by state authorities, local elites, and the upper-middle classes. Following the military government’s crackdown on street vendors in 2016, coupled with subsequent bans and removals of street food, as well as the dual challenges posed by political shifts and the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020, Bangkok’s culinary landscape has undergone significant changes. This paper aims to illuminate recent developments in Bangkok’s foodscape, particularly focusing on the role of food in social movements, political protests, and demonstrations. It outlines the operational and organizational aspects of street food vendors’ trade, along with their political implications. Additionally, it will portray how street food has been affected by government policies, namely the “Reclaim the Pavement” campaign and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2016, informal fieldnotes and observations have been collected during ethnographic investigations of Bangkok’s foodscape. Over time, these efforts have revealed a heightened interest in the resistances and challenges street vendors pose to state power and authority.

Ideals and Reality of Public Health Nursing in Korea: Influence of U.S. Nurse Advisors, 1945~1961.

South Korea's national healthcare system after liberation often described as transformation from 'sanitation' to 'public health'. The U.S. military government introduced public health nursing as the primary vehicle for communicating the newly introduced concept of public health to the Korean public. This meant that nursing, which had been in a subordinate position within the healthcare system during the Japanese occupation, had to be repositioned within the healthcare system as an independent and leading professional agent of healthcare. At the same time creating positions for public health nurses within the newly envisioned health center system, and convincing the public that nurses were the primary agents of public health activities. Yet, in resource limited setting, the role of public health nurses was significantly scaled back. Initial plans for institutionalized, community-wide health care through home visits shifted to addressing the challenges facing Korean society, including maternal and child health and infectious disease prevention. Ironically, the expansion of health centers during late 1950s diminished the position of public health nurses within local government health systems, who were gradually replaced by male administrative staff. The role of public health nurses was greatly curtailed in the 1960s, but they laid the groundwork for later community nursing and health care efforts. At the same time, public health nurses were assigned with new role of 'visiting' local health centers for observation, education, and management. Public health nursing allows to look beyond the ideological and institutional dimensions to examine how new concepts and practices of "public health" were actually transmitted to communities in post-liberation Korea.