Civil-Military Relations Across the Globe Since 1945 [Research Assistant]

Professor Caitlin Talmadge
Department: Political Science
The Project
My project examines civil-military relations in all states that have fought wars since 1945. Civil-military relations refer to the relationships between political leaders (such as presidents, prime ministers, or dictators) and military officers (the people who run the army, navy, and air force) in a given regime. I want to understand these relationships because I think that they may affect states’ decisions about which wars to enter, military strategy in those wars, and the outcome of wars. For example, states that have conflicting relationships between political leaders and military officers might not develop military strategies that are as sound, and we might be able to figure this out by studying a large group of such states systematically.

My project involves research on all the states that have fought major wars since 1945. The research task is to answer a series of coding questions about each state. For example, did the current regime come to power through a coup? How are officers selected to join the military? How often do civilian leaders and military officers consult with one another to make important decisions? And so on.

Ultimately the goal is to aggregate data on all of the states about whom we have answers to these questions, in order to conduct a large analysis about the effects of different civil-military patterns on states’ conflict behavior. I expect this effort to result in a published article in a major journal.
Research Assistant Tasks
Your job would be to pick a particular country and year from the dataset, and answer the following questions:

1. Did the current regime come to power in a military coup?
2. Has the country ever experienced a military coup?
3. Is the country’s top leader a former military officer?
4. Is the military officer corps largely closed to those who do not share the leader’s ethnic or sectarian background?
5. Are there strict ideological requirements for entry into the senior officer corps?
6. Is party membership required for entry into the senior officer corps?
7. Does military training involve extensive political education or ideological indoctrination?
8. Has the military been used to repress internal dissent in the last five years?
9. Has the military been used to govern the country in the last five years?
10. Is there a paramilitary organization separate from the regular military, used to provide regime or leader security?
11. Is there an internal intelligence apparatus dedicated to watching the regular military?
12. Has a purge of the officer corps occurred in the last five years?
13. Is there an institutionalized forum through which civilian leaders and military officers regularly exchange information?

The answers to these questions can usually be found in books in the library or interviews with subject matter experts. You would enter the answers on a coding sheet, complete with citations. I would work closely with you on a weekly basis (if not more often) to help you understand the questions and troubleshoot any research issues. I have been running the project for over two years, so it is well organized, and I am familiar with how to help my RAs be successful.

With the help of other research assistants, I have already completed work on many of the states in my dataset. However, I still need research on South Korea, Taiwan, Hungary, Spain, Morocco, Thailand, Laos, Turkey, Cyprus, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan. You would likely be able to choose among these states to work on and would probably be able to cover several over the course of the semester.
Time Commitment: Varies
Contact Email: ct2@gwu.edu
Additional Instructions for Applying: To apply, please send a CV or resume, a transcript, and a short cover letter explaining your interest in and qualifications for the position. I am particularly interested in any academic or professional background you have in international relations, comparative politics, or security/military issues. Please also tell me about any research or writing experience you have.