Abstract
This timely volume offers fresh perspectives on both changes and continuities in the social composition and societal relations of the armed forces of a number of industrial democracies. As the editor rightly points out the volume should be read alongside the burgeoning scholarly literature devoted to the revolution in military affairs or (I would add) the “new wars.” It does so since it provides a sociological complement to previous works that have analyzed the ways that contemporary conflicts are waged. It is based on a conference held at the Begin-Sadat Center of Bar-Ilan University (Israel) in 2008.
Comprised of thirteen very good contributions (apart from an all too short editorial preface), the volume covers a variety of cases that include Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada. While the majority of articles are devoted to the Israeli case, readers should not be confused by this focus since some papers, such as the one by Yagil Levy, use the Israeli case to make wider arguments. In addition, and this is one reason such a volume is important for understanding of citizen armies, the volume also includes comparative analyses. The overall level of the contributions is excellent and the issues raised are diverse and important. It is a pleasure to read.
The volume is divided into three main sections. In the first, the diverse reactions of states to social and cultural changes in industrial democracies are related to developments in their militaries and their actions. Krebs provides a brilliant analysis of the continuing importance of the citizen–soldier model in the United States, despite the fact that it has long ago reverted to the model of the All Volunteer Force (AVF). Dandeker offers a sophisticated analysis of recruiting patterns in the post–WWII British Army and their relation to social changes. The next analysis by Hoffenaar is a systematic sketch of the rise and decline of the Dutch Citizen Army. The final contribution in this section by the editor is a wonderful explanation of the how the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was created among a people with no modern martial tradition. The second section adopts a cross-national perspective to explore the more specific drivers for change or continuity in the citizens’ army model. Avi Kober offers a very good and important analysis of the operational and technological constraints and enablers for the transformation of forces. His essay is important because all sociologists too often tend to focus only on social matters (including economic and political ones) and to neglect an ordered analysis of strategic considerations. Sheffer and Barak add a very professional analysis of the strategic and political factors that prevent the move to AVFs while Sandhoff, Segal, and Segal offer a transnational analysis of gender issues related to the same transformation. Lifshitz then contributes a piece about economic considerations in comparing conscription with recruitment through markets. The second part concludes with two thoughtful contributions by Wong on the training of the U.S. officers’ corps and Bercuson on the reprofessionalization of the Canadian forces in the wake of the Somalia affair. The third section focuses more specifically on the challenges facing Israel. Sasson-Levy presents a very skillful projective analysis of the social and policy implications for gender of a potential move by the IDF to an AVF type model. Levy uses the Israeli case to examine the move from a citizens’ army to a market army and his contribution bears import for any contemporary armed force. The final article by Libel shows how the military academies of the IDF have responded to changed circumstances.
Perhaps a more integrative editorial foreword or afterword would have helped to bring the diverse issues presented in the contributions together. An especially intriguing point that could have been expanded is related to one that the editor only briefly mentions. Namely, this volume should be seen as a corrective to the voluminous scholarly and professional literature emphasizing changes in the military. Rather than simply accepting and charting out changes and how they are related to institutions focused on citizens’ armies, the various contributions very skillfully explore the factors impeding military transformation and that interact in complex ways with factors enabling it. This is an important and well-written source book.