From Institution to Occupation

Te military can be understood as a social organization which maintains levels of autonomy while refracting broader societal trends. It is from this perspective that we apply a developmental analysis to the emergent structure of the armed forces. Developmental analysis entails historical reconstruction, trend specification, and, most especially, a model of a future state of affairs toward which actual events are heading.I Developmental analysis, that is, emphasizes the &dquo;from here to there&dquo; sequence of present and hypothetical events. Stated in a slightly different way, a developmental construct is a &dquo;pure type&dquo; placed at some future point by which we may ascertain and order the emergent reality of contemporary social phenomena. Models derived from developmental analysis bridge the empirical world of today with the social forms of the future. Put plainly, what is the likely shape of the military in the foreseeable future?