Peace as the purpose of the military

Abstract

The attitude of political system, and in a broader sense of political community, towards the military is largely defined by the understanding of the role and purpose that the military has in a society. The lack of the understanding of the true purpose of the military often leads to inadequate evaluation of this institution, both in political system and by general public. The objective of this paper is to define peace as the purpose of the military, which will enable a proper understanding of its vital political role as a necessary framework and preconditions for the existence and functioning of all other institutions in the society. The paper analyzes the perception of the role of the military institution and its members and offers an alternative definition of its function and purpose, which facilitates correct insight into the role of the military in the society and depicts its essential nature. An intuitive understanding of the role of the military, through misinterpretation of instrument (war) as the purpose itself, reduces its purpose to war, and thus determines the attitude of the lay political public towards this institution and its members. Therefore, it is necessary to offer an adequate answer to the question: why the purpose of the military is actually peace and not war, what kind of peace it is, and by which functions this institution fulfills its role. It is concluded that the military exercises the defined purpose of "good" peace in two ways - in peace by preserving it through the function of deterrence, and in war by establishing it as quickly as possible through victory.

Keywords

• the military
• peace
• war
• purpose
• means
• laws