The Order of Violence. Norms and Rules of Organized Violence and the Civil-Military Paradox

Abstract

Physical violence is an ubiquitous ingredient in the makeup of all human societies. Modern states attempt to control physical violence and to distinguish between desirable and undesirable effects of its use. Therefore they try to tame it by legal and professional norms and rules. However, the domain state/violence is ambiguous. For modern states not only restrict the legal and legitimate use of violence. They also increase the intensity of violent conflicts and wars. The two World Wars stand out as exemplary for this ambiguity. Currently, two developments seem to contradict each other. First, in many parts of the globalizing world the state has been made to forfeit its monopoly on the use of force. Second, democratic societies seem to become increasingly post-heroic, which in turn implies a dismantling of their armed forces. The following chapter critically evaluates these developments and explores their roles in shaping the future in terms of the order of violence.