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Aetiology of the Equilibrium of Civil-Military Relations in Malawi

2023; Scientific Research Publishing; Volume: 11; Issue: 08 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4236/jss.2023.118026

2327-5960

Thokozani Andrew Chazema, Mavuto Tembo, Chrispin Mphande, Robert Kerr, Vincent Nundwe, David Kumwenda,

Political Conflict and Governance

This paper seeks to address the question how the level of civil-military relations has impacted the extent of democratization in Malawi. In doing so, the discussion has developed a rhombus diamond theory of civil-military relations, which posits that the military is the fulcrum in the relationship that has civilians, elected authorities, civilian authorities and the judiciary on apexes. The theory aims at keeping the relations of civil-military entities in equilibrium to develop the country into a consolidated democracy. The central thesis is that community of practice is the key civil-military relations players that include the local population for the direct political power they portray to the matters of security affecting them. The rhombus diamond theory is developed from the antitheses of classical institutional civil-military relations that focused much on the political-military complexes and consolidated democracies. Rhombus diamond theory has taken into historical accounts of Malawi where the local population and the military contributed directly to civil-military relations and safeguarded democratic values. The theory contributes to the body of knowledge by establishing that development and transformation occur through the interaction of the key civil-military relations players in a specific time and geographical milieu. Qualitative research method was used to develop this theory.