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ABSTRACT
What are the driving forces behind the establishment of retired officer associations outside of the corporate military apparatus? This article presents novel insights into such autonomous retired military officer associations and makes a foundational contribution on a severely understudied topic in security studies. Drawing on qualitative field research in Tunisia, the article unpacks the emergence of retired military officer associations in that country and juxtaposes these findings with a comparative overview of veterans’ associations in the Global South. A global perspective supports insights from Tunisia: retired military officer associations enjoying institutional autonomy represent genuinely independent organisations for the representation of social group interests rather than extensions of the corporate military apparatus. Findings reveal how opportunities emerging from periods of political liberalisation explain the timing of the foundation of autonomous retired officer associations, while varied paths of officer socialisation during their military service explains these organisations’ different types of activities.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Corinne Lyons and Intissar Samarat for their research assistance.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 There is some variation of associations’ independence in this sample. Some operate in the context of government agencies created to oversee them. This is the case, for instance, in Nigeria (Veterans Federation of Nigeria) and Tunisia (Committee of Retired Military Associations). Yet, the officer associations organize and fund themselves independently of their respective government agencies.
2 This excludes a few ARMOAs for the small size of the respective military apparatuses, such as in the Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Cayman Islands; it also excludes associations formed prior to a country’s independence, such as the Sri Lanka Servicemen Association, founded in 1944, and the Eritrean National War-Disabled Veteran Association, formed in 1961.
3 The sample draws on the author’s internet-based coding of ARMOAs in all countries in the Global South, using two sources: contemporaneous news articles from newspapers available in the ProQuest databases; and social media accounts and websites of existing ARMOAs. Possible reporting bias may be introduced from the data ignoring associations that remain largely inactive and/or do not sustain an internet presence.
4 Neither one of the two organizations in Pakistan is legally recognized.
5 See the Council’s website at www.cmvo.org.za.
6 See the federation’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/people/Veterans-Federation-of-Nigeria-vfn/100069838998685/.
7 The data are at militarycoups.org.
8 The data are from the Center of Systemic Peace: www.systemicpeace.org/polityproject.html.
9 The founding year for the associations in Uganda and Sudan could not be determined, countries that have seen alternating periods of democratic and authoritarian rule.
10 Author interview with a member of Ben Ali’s security detail, Tunis, 13 May 2022.
11 Military personnel have been allowed to vote in municipal elections and the ‘electronic consultation’ process for a new constitution in 2022; author interview with a retired military officer, Tunis, 12 May 2022.
12 Author interviews with multiple retired military officers, May 2022.
13 Author interviews with Kamel Akrout and Agisson Pour la Tunisie party leader Mustapha Saheb Ettabaa; see also their respective interviews at thearabweekly.com/tunisias-rear-admiral-akrout-national-security-inseparable-intelligence, and fr.sputniknews.africa/20190717/agissons-pour-la-tunisie-un-parti-danciens-officiers-ayant-la-benediction-de-larmee-1041695764.html.
14 During that same period, the police and internal security forces seized the opportunity as well to form their own unions (Kimball, Citation2019).
15 Author interview with a retired military officer associated with the AAOAN, Tunis, 11 May 2022.
16 Author interview with a retired military officer, Tunis, 18 May 2022.
17 Author interview with a retired military officer associated with the AAOAN, Tunis, 18 May 2022.
18 Author interview with a retired military officer associated with the AAOAN, Tunis, 16 May 2022.
19 Author interview with a retired military officer associated with the TAMR, Tunis, 16 May 2022.
20 Author interview with a retired military officer associated with the AAOAN, Tunis, 16 May 2022.
21 Author interviews with retired military officers associated with the TAMR and the AAOAN.
22 Author interviews with two retired military officers associated with the TCGSS (Tunis, 12 May 2022) and the IPASSS (Tunis, 19 May 2022), respectively. The organizations’ websites can be found here www.facebook.com/Ceteseg, and here www.ipa3s.org.
23 Soldiers and noncommissioned officers are trained at the Ecole des Hommes de Troupes and the Centre de Formation pour les Soldats; peacekeeping personnel are trained at the Centre d’Entrainement aux Operations de Maintien de Paix.
24 An exception to this rule is officers’ participation in international peacekeeping missions, which is routinely emphasized as a career highlight and does contribute to officers’ promotion schemes; author interviews with two retired military officers, Tunis, 15 May 2017 and 1 March 2020 respectively.
25 Author interview with a retired military officer, Tunis, 13 May 2022; see also information provided by the Ministry of Defense at www.emat.defense.tn/index.php/en/officer-training/conditions-admission-am.
26 Author interview with a retired military officer, Tunis, 18 May 2017.
27 If junior officers leave the military early, they are required to retroactively fund their training at the Military Academy themselves; author interview with a retired military officer, Tunis, 13 May 2022.
28 Author interview with a retired military officer, Tunis, 18 May 2017.
29 Author interview with a retired military officer, Tunis, 16 May 2022.
30 Author interviews with retired military officers, Tunis, 11 and 12 May 2022.
31 The NDI also been a centerpiece for US military assistance, aimed at improving civil-military relations in Tunisia (Wehrey, Citation2020).
32 Estimate by retired military officer associated with the TAMR; author interview, Tunis, 15 May 2022.
33 Author interviews with retired military officers, Tunis, 11 and 16 May 2022.
34 Author interview, Tunis, 19 May 2022.
35 Author interview, Tunis, 17 May 2022.
36 Author interviews with two retired military officers, Tunis, 18 May 2022; see also information provided by the Tunisian Ministry of Defense (https://www.defense.tn).
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Holger Albrecht
Holger Albrecht is a professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama. His research interests include civil–military relations, political opposition, authoritarian regime dynamics, and public opinion research in the Middle East and North Africa.