Abstract
Military modernization in post-conflict states is routinely expected to consolidate cohesion and democratic subordination. This article argues that, under conditions of institutional asymmetry and legal uncertainty, the same reforms can generate alienation among the officers most aligned with them. Drawing on a cross-sectional study of 295 Colombian Armed Forces officers using K-means clustering and semantic network analysis, we identify a phenomenon we term Enlightened Professional Dissonance. Civilian academic exposure was associated with stronger doctrinal adaptation, yet adaptation was positively related to commitment crisis and identity erosion. A dominant profile of “alienated modernizers” paired high adaptation with acute estrangement and narratives centered on legal vulnerability and perceived abandonment. The findings complicate linear professionalization theories, suggesting that modernization can redistribute risk downward, weakening institutional attachment in transitional democracies.
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