This volume seeks to explain why democratization and military reforms stagnate in newly
democratizing countries. The contributions blend historical ideational cultural and
structural explanatory factors to analyze the trajectories of military reform in Indonesia and
Nigeria two major regional powers that share many structural commonalities. In the tradition
of the literature on security sector reform (SSR) the book not only scrutinizes executive
initiatives toward military reform but also provides ample coverage of societal actors.
Findings show that while military reform is stagnating in both countries societal forces ought
to be taken into account more as major driving forces in explaining military reform. Several
chapters study how legislatures non-governmental organizations and the civilian defence
epistemic community contribute to the transformation of military institutions. The last part of
the book tackles another aspect rarely studied in the literature on military reform namely
the role of militias in military reform.
