Role of the Armed Forces, Essay Example

Introduction

An armed force is an organized defense force of a nation that exists to protect the interest of that particular nation. It is composed of the navy, marines, air force, and the army (Record 37). The roles of armed forces have evolved over time due to the dynamic world as far as security is concern and the change in the individual nation’s priorities (Edmunds 1060). The importance of an armed force to a nation cannot be over-emphasized, as it is a critical component in the existence of that very nation. This paper will group the dynamic roles of an armed force into two broad role categories; Protection of the land and to show the power of a state.

Protection of the land

The core role of armed force in a country is the protection of their land. The protection of a nation’s borders against any invasion into its territory, which may threaten or jeopardize the survival of that very nation and the security of its citizens lies squarely on the armed forces (Record, 37). Other territory concerns that are of great importance to an armed force is the protection of the air space, cyber space and sea lanes which might be used by the enemies to cause threat to the nation.However,nations still uphold the freedom of these spaces to facilitate doing of business which is interest to that particular nation protect their.

National security is another key role played by the armed forces in their quest to protect their land. Internal and external aggression is the major causes of threat to national security of a nation and its armed force must be prepare well in advance to deal with such situations. Examples of such threats include terrorism, which can be either internal or external, and the formation of rebels common in African nations.

Protection of national citizens against threat to their live and general wellbeing is another role of armed forces. Threats to lives of citizens can happen within or without the borders of a nation. For instance, citizens of a nation held hostage in another country calls for its military force to act in fulfilling its role of protecting the lives of those citizens.

Maintenance of access to the resource by a nation for the benefit of its civilians rests on the hands of an armed force. An example in Africa is where the Nile waters is of great importance to the citizens of Egypt, however the river source crosses countries to the south of Egypt and any attempt to divert such waters will warrant armed force action.

Show the power of a state

The other category of the role of an armed force is the show of power of a state. The ability of a country’s armed forces to counter threats like terrorism and subversion will demonstrate how a nation is powerful. An example is the thwarting of terrorism activities, which is an international threat by the United States force, which was signified by the killing of Osama Bin Laden by its forces.

Sustenance of global commitments by a nations calls for a strong-armed force (Cottey 365) and consequently signals the power that a nation commands internationally. For instance the strong commitment of a super power like United States to ensure that peace prevails all over the world  and lives up to the commitment is a sign of power given that one of the machineries’ employed to attain such commitment is its armed force. Success in the protection of nation’s vital interests internationally is also a sign of power. These interests range from the upholding of domestic and foreign policies, maintainance of access to foreign trade narrows down to the existence of a strong-armed force.

Furthermore, the ability of a country to have the capacity to solve international conflicts from every quarter of the world shows the magnitude of power in a nation and since it involves the use of armed forces then a credible force is called for. The more powerful a nation is makes it have obligations of restoring peace and security all over the world (Palmer and General 65).Example is the United States of America where its armed forces have been deployed to many warring nations on peacekeeping missions.

Lastly, a nation capable of helping out friends and allies in fighting shows power particularly if the war may affect trade between them and the other nation or the invasion might have spiraling effects on its national interest or the insecurity perpetrates acts that are against its policies for example the drug trafficking and money laundering activities.

Importance of Armed Forces In a Country

It is very important to have armed forces in a country as their main purpose is to protect the nation from the external or internal threats. Having a strong support of the armed forces ensures that other foreign nations respect their commitments and agreements. It is the moral responsibility of armed forces to provide the prevention on sovereignty and secure to the territory (Barany & Zoltan, 2011).They attempt to maintain their institution independence by blocking outside investigators whether from the ruling party, legislatures or independent intelligence services.  It protects the assets of the country which are the most powerful weapon in the time of emergency. The strong the armed forces are, the strong and safe the nation will be in terms of economic developments. The role of armed forces becomes wider when their expertise are utilized in case of any natural disaster in order to provide security and rescue operations and help the nation from the worse situation. It is important to know that due to the label of armed forces in a country, nobody tries to attack the nation or enslave the people or to conquer the land.

Cons of Investing money in Armed Forces

Armed forces are fully supported by the government of each country and there is a huge investing involved to carry the expenses of it. All these investment are budgeted from the government funds. If the economic situation of the country is not stable then the investment of more money into the armed forces may become harmful in a way that the government may skip the plans of looking after the other areas involved for the establishment of the country. For e.g. education sector, health sector, trade sector, foreign investments, infrastructure etc (Gennaioli, Nicola & Hans,2011). It has always been likely said to have a balanced investment into the armed forces as much as it is required. Purchasing of heavy military weapons without any purpose or the usage will affect the development cycle of the country. In case of wars or external threats all the investment on weapons and sources are utilized.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it takes a strong and a credible armed force to protect the land of a nation and to uphold the power of the state. Credible military forces have got synergistic effects o other instruments of power (Edmunds 1060).Instruments of power as economic, political, and social are often effective when supported or reinforced with a strong military force, therefore a nation ought to have a strong armed force.

Works Cited

Barany, Zoltan. “The role of the military.” Journal of Democracy 22.4 (2011): 24-35.

Cottey, Andrew. Reshaping Defence Diplomacy: New roles for military cooperation and assistance. No. 365. Routledge, 2013.

Edmunds, Timothy. “What are armed forces for? The changing nature of military roles in Europe.” International Affairs82.6 (2006): 1059-1075.

Gennaioli, Nicola, and Hans-Joachim Voth. “State capacity and military conflict.” Available at SSRN 1961619 (2011)

Palmer Jr, General Bruce. The 25-Year War: America’s Military Role in Vietnam. Universit Press of Kentucky, 2014.

Record, Jeffrey. Back to the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine. Air Univ Maxwell Afb Al Strategic Studies Quarterly, 2007.