Militarism

Militarism expounds that the foundation of a society's security is its military capacity, and claims that the development and maintenance of the military to ensure that capacity is the most important goal for that society. It consists of a preferential positioning of military considerations in policy by a nation or other political entity and preferential treatment for persons involved officially or tangentially with the military in service or supply. Such policy when adopted causes a militarization of the society in relation to other contemporaneous societies as the militarized society exerts its influence and power over them. These influences are most clearly observable in the history of nation-states and empires when they engaged in Imperialism or Expansionism; viz. Empire of Japan, British Empire, Nazi Germany, New Roman Empire of Mussolini, the expansion of the Russian SSFR into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and later reign of Stalin, Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein, and the United States during the period of Manifest Destiny and army reform.

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Ideologically militarism consists of jointly supremacy, loyalism, extremism, emergency-protectionism, and nationalism or its minor form patriotism. Under the justification of potential application of force it asserts that civilian populations are dependent upon — and thereby subservient to —the needs and goals of its military. Common tenets include advocation of "peace through strength" as the proper method to secure the interests of society — and is expressed as one that overrides all others; including traditional precursory diplomatic relations and issues related to social welfare. Militarism is sometimes contrasted with the concepts of comprehensive national power and soft power and hard power.

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This quality may be identified in economic terms by several methods; including the determination of those nations with large modern militaries requiring large or substantially higher budgets than the average among nations to maintain large military forces (as of 2005 viz United States, China, Japan) or to expand such forces (as of 2005 viz Israel, Kuwait, Singapore), or to nation-states devoting substantial portions of their GDPs per capita to develop such forces (as of 2005 viz. North Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia).

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In a democratic republic, a central component of any state constitution are rules concerning how military rule (martial law, executive powers) may be implemented, and how such powers are to be returned to the elected government.

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Empires: REDIRECT Empire...

Imperialism: Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial conquest or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics and/or economy of other countries....

Expansionism: Expansionism is the doctrine of expanding the territory or economic influence of a country....