“The Soldier, the State, and the People—Costs and Benefits of Military Regimes”: Evaluating the Essay “Guns and Butter: Child Mortality and the Mediators of Militarization”

• Author: Arthur I. Cyr
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18822099
• Date: 01 July 2019
• Published date: 01 July 2019
• Subject Matter: Commentaries

Commentary

“The Soldier, the State,

and the People—Costs

and Benefits of Military

Regimes”: Evaluating

the Essay “Guns and Butter:

Child Mortality and the

Mediators of Militarization”

Arthur I. Cyr

1

Abstract

The article “Guns and Butter: Child Mortality and the Mediators of Militarization”

addresses the important subject of the social and political roles of militaries in

nations above a minimum population size. Each national population is evaluated in

terms of 10 characteristics including survival rates of children, level of armed con-

flict, economic development, political representation, and others. The authors draw

a sharp distinction between social militarization and praetorian militarization. The

essay is valuable in providing one dimension of the impacts of militaries on nations.

However, qualitative information and analysis would greatly benefit this work. In this

regard, the work of Samuel P. Huntington is instructive.

Keywords

child mortality, guns and butter, militarization, praetorian militarization, social

militarization

1

Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Arthur I. Cyr, Carthage College, 2001 Alford Park Drive, Kenosha, WI 53140, USA.

Email: acyr@carthage.edu

Armed Forces & Society

2019, Vol. 45(3) 572-581

ªThe Author(s) 2019

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18822099

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