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Militarism and the Politics of Covid-19 Response in Uganda

Militarism and the Politics of Covid-19 Response in Uganda Within the broader context of securitized responses to Covid-19 globally, Uganda experienced an oversized military role, ranging from law-and-order and lockdown enforcement, to managing food-relief supplies, medical operations, and partisan political repression. What explains this excessive militarization? To address this poser, the article draws on secondary sources and key-informant interviews to test the hypothesis that military involvement in pandemic responses depends on pre-pandemic militarism. The findings reveal direct links between pre-crisis militarism and Covid-19 responses, contrary to the view that exceptionality and novelty of Covid-19 informed overly militarized responses. Through pandemic framing and institutional morphing, pre-pandemic militarism foregrounded military roles because Covid-19 provided Uganda’s ruling elites with a public health pretext to heighten militaristic rule, clutch the political arena in the context of elections, and deepen military presence in civilian public health realms. This excessive militarization of public health seriously impacts civil–military relations, specifically command and control, reporting and accountability, and resources management. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Armed Forces & Society SAGE

Militarism and the Politics of Covid-19 Response in Uganda

Armed Forces & Society , Volume OnlineFirst: 1 – Jan 1, 2023

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References (135)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023
ISSN
0095-327X
eISSN
1556-0848
DOI
10.1177/0095327x231162848
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Within the broader context of securitized responses to Covid-19 globally, Uganda experienced an oversized military role, ranging from law-and-order and lockdown enforcement, to managing food-relief supplies, medical operations, and partisan political repression. What explains this excessive militarization? To address this poser, the article draws on secondary sources and key-informant interviews to test the hypothesis that military involvement in pandemic responses depends on pre-pandemic militarism. The findings reveal direct links between pre-crisis militarism and Covid-19 responses, contrary to the view that exceptionality and novelty of Covid-19 informed overly militarized responses. Through pandemic framing and institutional morphing, pre-pandemic militarism foregrounded military roles because Covid-19 provided Uganda’s ruling elites with a public health pretext to heighten militaristic rule, clutch the political arena in the context of elections, and deepen military presence in civilian public health realms. This excessive militarization of public health seriously impacts civil–military relations, specifically command and control, reporting and accountability, and resources management.

Journal

Armed Forces & SocietySAGE

Published: Jan 1, 2023

Keywords: civil–military relations; Covid-19; militarism; Museveni; securitization; Uganda

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