Exam 8: Soldiers and Politics

Which of the following statements best describes the importance of the armed forces in the 2011 Arab Spring?

Often military governments claim their take-over was necessary to save the national economy.How successful have they been in improving the economy?

The military often takes power during periods of political instability (including violence by radical groups),promising to restore stability.How successful have they been?

In the past 20 years or so,military coups have virtually ended in an area that used to have them quite frequently.Where was that?

Many developing countries have tried to find new roles for the armed forces that would justify their existence and keep them out of politics.Which one of the following has NOT usually been seen as a desirable new role for the military?

For the most part,military governments have been as corrupt as or more corrupt than the civilian governments that they ousted.

In the Third World,attempted military coups are most likely to be successful in countries with a middle range per capita GNP and were most likely to fail in the poorest LDCs.

What are the different goals of left-wing versus right-wing military regimes?

Whether or not the armed forces seize power in a particular country is primarily a function of the military's internal cohesion and its own political skills.

What is it about the nature of the armed forces and the nature of civil society and of the political system that has led to such frequent military intervention or takeovers in politics?

Sub-Saharan Africa has been the region most likely to have attempted or successful military coups since the 1990s.

Whose interests have Third World military governments been most likely to support?

While the economic records of military governments have often been poor,in several countries,such as Chile,Indonesia,and South Korea,their economic policies were relatively successful.

Which of the following factors is the worst predictor of whether or not a country will have a military coup that topples a civilian government?

In the Middle East,monarchies have been the most vulnerable to military coups.

In what regions have military regimes performed best and where have they performed worst?

What effect did the decline in military governments in the 1980s and 1990s have on military spending in the less developed countries?

Where have personalistic military governments been most common?

Third World military officers are most likely to come out of

In time,military rule generally causes a decline in the cohesion of the armed forces.