The Military in the Service of Society and Democracy

This volume examines civil-military relations in general and nonmilitary functions in the service of society and democracy in particular in six different nations against the backdrop of the Israeli experience with a dual-role military. Since its inception the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has functioned as a very effective fighting force while also fulfilling many core nonmilitary roles as a powerful educational and remedial agent engaged in strengthening the fabric of Israeli society. The inner workings of the IDF in this area--the subject and dynamics of its broad social agenda including the dilemmas inherent in education toward broad intellectual autonomy within a regimented system such as the military--are presented for the first time before a non-Israeli audience in detail (and with much candor) by both high echelon IDF personnel and junior officers in conscript service directly responsible for carrying out these missions.