The Civil-military ‘gap’ in Britain

Abstract

The civil-military ‘gap’, identified by the TISS report for the United States, is also to be found in the United Kingdom. But it is less a new phenomenon than the result of a selective view of the past. Compulsory military service has been the exception in Britain, but that is what has softened the divide between the armed forces and society. It follows that the abolition of conscription was a bigger change for civil–military relations than the end of the Cold War thirty years later. Since then the practices of the forces, justified by the claim that they are necessary for operational effectiveness, have deepened the divide. But professionalism has also rendered Britain's armed services of greater utility: casualty aversion has not been a significant constraint on recent deployments. The use of mercenaries could be one way to address the services manpower problems, but another would be a more concerted effort to target higher socio-economic groups as possible recruits. Some possible devices for easing the ‘gap’ include more open public debate, the exploitation of links with higher education, and the restructuring of the reserve forces in order to enhance their regional identity.