This timely volume raises hugely important issues for the aftermath of political armies which cannot be ignored. The particular forte of the contributors lies in their ability to penetrate the thinking of the military and to highlight their capacity for "strategic" responses to the dilemmas resulting from the dismantling of the Cold War and the surge of democracy ... Quite probably the most important and sophisticated comparative volume on the subject of the military and politics to emerge in recent years.

Eboe Hutchful, Wayne State University

Political Armies lays bare the important truth about civil-military relations in the post-cold war world.

Johanna Mendelson Forman, American University, Washington, DC

A provocative and wide-ranging collection of first-rate case studies on the political roles armies have played and still play around the world. The choice of countries included is very original and the wide ambit of issues it covers makes it the most comprehensive book existing today on this ongoing debate. This timely volume is essential for understanding the importance of the military factor in current processes of democratization as it gives a cautionary sign about the ever-existing prospects of authoritarian regression.

Patricio Silva, editor of The Soldier and the State in South America