The Emerging Pattern of Civil? Military Relations in Islamist States

The rise of political Islam in the Muslim Middle East is a critical development certain to shape political and social change in the region for decades to come. Political Islam is bound to exert a particularly strong influence on civil-military relations due to the legacy of military dominance of state institutions. Drawing on the reform experiences in Iran, Turkey, and Egypt, this thesis argues that a distinct pattern of civil-military relations is beginning to emerge in which Islamist governments rely on ideology to mobilize and ensure the loyalty of supporters to a degree that clearly distinguishes them from their authoritarian and democratic predecessors. While these Islamist-dominated governments have utilized some democratic control mechanisms in their efforts to expand their control of the government and bring the military under civilian control, this owes more to expediency than to a genuine commitment to democratic reform. Although each Islamist political organization interprets the Islamization of the state differently and some could be considered politically or socially liberal, the primary characteristic of any Islamist political organization is to Islamize the state rather than to democratize it-a characteristic that has important implications for how Islamist governments assert their authority over the military.