Impact of Civil-Military Relations on Management of National Security of Pakistan

Abstract

In the simplest sense, the security means being free from threat. However, in political terms, it means having some opportunity of choosing how to lead the life. Threats to national security have multiplied disproportionately since the end of Cold War. Accordingly the notion of national security which had traditionally been narrow and only state centric has expanded and transformed to become people centric. Therefore, it requires comprehensive approach by the states to achieve the objectives of national security. This has necessitated bringing together of various elements of national power including militaries, through appropriate state institutions and processes. Many nations have established National Security Councils which consider all issues relating to the national security and render advice to the Chief Executives on policy options. These bodies also coordinate the work between different government departments and implicitly perform oversight role. Leading countries of the world like USA, UK and India are making effective use of their National Security Councils to manage their national security issues. Pakistan is facing multitude of challenges to its national security. It has large professional armed forces. However, the country is acutely deficient in effectively handling national security issues. It is considered that it is not the shortage of resource but the management of different elements of national power to generate a coordinated and comprehensive response to the challenges. Pakistan indeed does not have those institutional structures and processes which are needed to effectively bring together and orchestrate different elements of national power. The efforts to create National Security Council have repeatedly been stalled by the political leadership of the country. It is considered that the root cause of the problem is the imbalance in civil-military relations. The relationship has remained in imbalance due external security mindset of the country, internal challenges, weak political leadership and low performance of civilian institutions. The military dominance has hindered growth of state institutions and has resulted in overburdening of the economy with relatively heavy defence budget and embroiling the country in avoidable wars. The propensity of the military to intervene into civil affairs has created mistrust of military with civilian leadership.