Paper short abstract:

This panel explores anthropological contributions to analyses of civil-military entanglements in the changed international security environment during the past decades. It focuses on Euro-American and other cases to offer empirical and theoretical explorations of civil-military nexuses.

Paper long abstract:

Since the end of the Cold War the international security environment is marked by the blurring of forms of warfare, the emergence of new types of security actors and marked transformations in the composition and training of armed forces. Within these circumstances the diverse ties linking civilians and the military have been transformed - from the macro-level of links between political and military decision-makers, through the mezzo-level of connections between parts of the armed forces and various organizations and social movements to the micro-level of face-to-face encounters. The panel aims to explore these variegated ties through anthropological analyses.

In contrast to prevailing perspectives from sociology and political science marked by a preoccupation with macro-dynamics, a focus only on Euro-American cases and concentration on social structures and political resources, and we seek to explore the unique contribution of anthropology in four areas: (1) widening of the variety of comparative cases to non Euro-American examples (but including them); (2) introducing ethnographically-based explorations allowing scholars to explore the various sites within which military-civilian ties are embedded and their dynamics ties; (3) exploring the cultural dimensions of civil-military relations; and (4) developing further the unique potential of anthropological theories to this emerging field.