Defence and development: Some thematic issues

Armed forces are, in many developing countries, configured for very restricted and traditional roles. Often their considerable organisational capabilities and human resource expertise are not fully harnessed to the broader developmental objectives of the country concerned. The capabilities of armed forces and their considerable resources can, potentially, be utilised in a much wider arena than simply in the role of territorial defence. Numerous pros and cons can be attached to this expanded deployment of the armed forces and such deployment is critically dependent on the peculiarities of the country, as reflected in its political culture and its history. It is argued in this article that the collateral utility of the South African National Defence Force is far wider than that which present government policy permits. The effective utilisation of this capability, however, will depend on a high level of political will within government to do so, the revision of existing government policy in this regard, and the effective coordination of these expanded defence efforts within a broader human security policy.