The Limits of Military Officers’ Duty to Obey Civilian Orders: A Neo-Classical Perspective: A Neo-Classical Perspective

This monograph offers a neo-classically republican perspective on a perennial problem of civilian-military relations: limitations on military officers’ obligation to obey civilian authorities. All commentators agree that military officers are generally obliged—morally, professionally, and legally—to obey civilian orders, even as they agree that this rule of obedience must admit exceptions. Commentators tend to differ, however, on the basis and breadth of these exceptions.

Following Samuel Huntington’s classic analysis in The Soldier and the State, this monograph shows that disagreement about the breadth of the exceptions tends to assume that their moral, professional, and legal bases are incommensurable. The publication suggests, to the contrary, that all defensible exceptions to the rule of military obedience, like that rule, itself, derive from a single neo-classical, Huntingtonian standard (binding to civilian authorities and military officers, alike): the common good. This perspective promises to significantly reduce the range of disagreement over the limits of military obedience, both in theory and in practice.
  Other products pertaining to this topic of civil-military relations include the following:
Maturing Defense Support of Civil Authorities and the Dual Status Commander Arrangement through the Lens of Process Improvement can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01140-1?ctid=1162
Toward a Unified Military Response: Hurricane Sandy and the Dual Status Commander can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01147-8?ctid=1162
Duffer's Shoal: A Strategic Dream of the Pacific Command Area of Responsibility can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01154-1?ctid=1162
Strengthening Statehood Capabilities for Successful Transitions in the Middle East/North Africa Region can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01145-1?ctid=1162
The State-Society/Citizen Relationship in Security Analysis: Implications for Planning and Implementation of U.S. Intervention and Peace/State-Building Operations can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01144-3?ctid=1162
Paid to Perform: Aligning Total Military Compensation With Talent Management can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01160-5