The Armed Forces, the foundation and the maintenance of order: a barren relationship
Authors
Frederico Carlos de Sá Costa
UFF – Universidade Federal Fluminense. Departamento de Estudos Estratégicos e Relações Internacionais. Niterói – RJ – Brasil.
Keywords:
Armed Forces, State, Order, State security, Civic culture, Civil-military relations,
Abstract
This paper approaches the civil-military relationship in terms of what is known in Brazil as “maintaining order.” The main goal is to do a deep research on the security state vis a vis to the Armed Forces, including a third element, concerning to Brazilian political practice: the maintenance and / or imposition of order. The hypothesis is that the use of the Armed Forces in the maintenance or enforcement of the order is barren. The Armed Forces are not the origin of the order, but a consequence. The project of common life sustained by the State originates in a prior agreement that generates the necessary institutions for its perpetuation. The Armed Forces are not able to reconstruct the order (their actions aren’t productive), which is a project of living together, but only is capable of to fill a power vacuum and political consensus with violence.
