Balancing Civil-military Relations for Democratic Development in Malawi: The Rhombus Diamond Framework

Abstract

This chapter seeks to address the question of how the level of civil-military relations has impacted the extent of democratization in Malawi. In doing so, the discussion has developed a rhombus diamond theory of civil-military relations, which posits that the military is the fulcrum in the relationship that has civilians, elected authorities, civilian authorities and the judiciary on apexes. The waning space for the political-military complex as a referent object of security and the advent of human security by the Copenhagen school of thought induced a human-centric approach to security matters. The theory aims at keeping the relations of civil-military entities in equilibrium to develop the country into a consolidated democracy. The central thesis is that community of practice is the key civil-military relations players that include the local population for the direct political power they portray to the matters of security affecting them. The rhombus diamond theory is developed from the antitheses of classical institutional civil-military relations that focused much on the political-military complexes and consolidated democracies. Rhombus diamond theory has taken into historical accounts of Malawi where the local population and the military contributed directly to civil-military relations and safeguarded democratic values. The theory contributes to the body of knowledge by establishing that development and transformation occur through the interaction of the key civil-military relations players in a specific time and geographical milieu. The theory applies to transformative civil-military relations community development and supports United Nations Sustainable development Goal Number 16 that promotes peaceful and inclusive societies, justice, accountability and building of effective institutions. The theory implies that the key civil-military relations players will understand their respective roles and be able to comprehend to democratic principles through deep interaction and fusion of ideas for peace and security.