Transition and Civil-Military Relations in Poland and Russia Available to Purchase

Many of the dramatic changes in the former East bloc have undermined the material status and professional ethos of the armed forces in post-communist states. Existing theories of civil-military relations would have predicted that by now the military would have overthrown civilian governments and seized power. While this has not happened to date, there have been significant changes in civil-military relations which will affect the nature of the regimes which are being consolidated. The author provides a theoretical framework for understanding how democratization is affecting military behavior. She compares and contrasts developments in two countries: Poland and Russia, and suggests that changes in the nature of the civil-military relationship in the latter pose a serious threat to democratic consolidation.