Civil-military synergy: More urgent than ever for national security

It is time for third-generation reforms to improve coordination between the two arms, as modern threats demand unified civilian-military responses, not siloed strategies

Both the civil and military arms of a nation are crucial to governance, with jointness — collaboration among services — and integration, which involves alignment between civil and military institutions, as key aspects.

 

Civil-military coordination varies across political systems — authoritarian regimes see military dominance, while democracies emphasise civilian control. Post-colonial India has had to consciously evolve its civil-military relationship, shifting from a command-driven structure to one based on democratic norms and institutional synergy. Samuel Huntington’s 1957 all-time classic on civil-military relations advocates military autonomy under civilian control. Echoing this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first Combined Commanders’ Conference