Societies and Military Power: India and Its ArmiesA work with broad implications for theories of comparative strategic behavior and civil-military relations, Societies and Military Power uses the long history of the armies of India as a basis for analyzing whether the character of a given society affects the amount of military power that can be generated by the armies that emerge from that society. By examining the changing relationship between ruling elites in the Indian subcontinent and their armed forces, the book shows that divisions within society are mirrored within the military, even within the contemporary professional military. Stephen Peter Rosen explores the proposition that cultural explanations don't sufficiently account for changes in military power, whereas social structure does. He suggests also that the dynamics of civil-military relations in a non-Western setting are not explicable without social-structural insight. He concludes that the comparative study of strategic behavior and military organization has lacked a sound foundation, which the social-structural explanation offered in this book begins to provide. |
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affected Akbar ancient India argued armed Army officers Aurangzeb Babur battalions battle battlefield British bureaucracies Cambridge caste system cavalry century Chapter civilian cohesion command created defensive Delhi developed divisions dominant social structures elite emperor enemy ethnic Europe European fighting forces groups Harbakhsh Singh helots Hindu historians History host society Ibid Ibn Khaldun impact imperial independence Indian Army Indian military Indian political Indian social structures Indian society Indian soldiers institutions internal isolated Italian Japanese Kautilya leaders levels loyalties Mahabharata mansabdars Maratha military behavior military effectiveness military organizations military power modern Mughal army Mughal Empire Mughal India Muslim noted nuclear observed officer corps Ottoman Ottoman Empire Pakistani patterns percent period population problems professional Rajput recruitment regional relations religious Roman Rome rule rulers separation sepoys social structures Spartan Stephen Peter Rosen strategic culture subcaste sultan tensions troops units University Press warfare wars Wellesley Western