Analyzing the relationship between the military and the
state in MENA countries requires an understanding of the historical, social,
and political developments of each state, especially recent, ongoing, or potential
wars or internal conflicts. In the cases of Egypt and Syria, after military
coups, new regimes supplanted old ones and legitimized their influence through
controlling, strengthening, and expanding the state’s military. The militaries have
become so relatively strong that they affect their respective state’s social, political, and
economic institutions including political offices and leaders, as well as various
paramilitary and non-military industries and economic sectors.
Syria was heavily involved in Lebanese politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict leading to increased military expenditures to forty percent of the annual budget by the 1980s. The Assad regime institutionalized the army to the point where they had a significant impact on all kinds of national policies. This expansion included the development of factories to maintain and build new weapons and the employment hundreds of thousands into the armed forces. Moreover, the influence of the military expanded into areas of non-military activity through control of business enterprises such as resources and utility management and housing. Eventually, through control of the military, the Assad regime protected its minority rule from coups and allowed the regime to stave off political competition from individuals, or segments of the population, as is happening now during Civil War.
Syria was heavily involved in Lebanese politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict leading to increased military expenditures to forty percent of the annual budget by the 1980s. The Assad regime institutionalized the army to the point where they had a significant impact on all kinds of national policies. This expansion included the development of factories to maintain and build new weapons and the employment hundreds of thousands into the armed forces. Moreover, the influence of the military expanded into areas of non-military activity through control of business enterprises such as resources and utility management and housing. Eventually, through control of the military, the Assad regime protected its minority rule from coups and allowed the regime to stave off political competition from individuals, or segments of the population, as is happening now during Civil War.
Egypt’s Presidents have in modern history ran the state through the military, including individuals such as Abu Ghazella, Hosni Mubarak, and now General Sisi, who were all from military backgrounds. With the aim suppressing both plots against the state, as well as Islamic fundamentalism, Egyptian governance has manifested itself as a military-police state, mainly carried out via military control of internal security. The Egyptian military has expanded into influencing everyday life through the Central Security Police, often trumping individual liberties of society through military courts to suppress riots or political dissidents. Currently, President Sisi is well known for his suppression of political dissidents even after two recent revolutions. Even more so than Syria, Egypt’s military extends into business industries in the production of other sectors of the state, such as running factories of automobiles, televisions, agriculture, and other industries of private capital and contracting.
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