Stratocracy

{{Short description|Government administered by military forces}} {{distinguish|Imperialism}} [[File:Robert Filmer Portrait.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Robert Filmer, the first person to use the term ''stratocracy'' in English{{r|Blackford 1956}}]] {{Forms of government}} A '''stratocracy''' is a form of government headed by military chiefs.<ref name="Bouvier">{{cite book |last1=Bouvier |first1=John |author1-link=John Bouvier |last2=Gleason |first2=Daniel A. |title=Institutes of American law |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd |orig-date=1851 |year=1999 |page=7 |isbn=978-1-886363-80-9}}</ref> The branches of government are administered by military forces, the government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and is usually carried out by military workers.{{sfnp|de Grazia|1970}}

== Etymology == The word "stratocracy" comes {{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|στρατός}}'' ({{grc-transl|στρατός}})|army||''{{wikt-lang|grc|κράτος}}'' ({{grc-transl|κράτος}})|dominion, power}}.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Neo-Classical Neological Formations in the English Language |volume=2 |number=1 |date=2010 |journal=Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies |first=Jelisaveta |last=Milojević |doi=10.18485/bells.2010.2.3 |url=https://belgrade-bells.fil.bg.ac.rs/index.php/belgrade-bells/article/view/bells-2010-2-3 |pages=84 |doi-access=free |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815093907/https://belgrade-bells.fil.bg.ac.rs/index.php/belgrade-bells/article/view/bells-2010-2-3 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Description of stratocracy == The word stratocracy first appeared in 1652 from the political theorist Robert Filmer, being preceded in 1649 by {{lang|el-latn|stratokratia}} used by Claudius Salmasius in reference to the newly declared Commonwealth of England.<ref name="Blackford 1956">{{cite journal |title=Stratocracy, a Seventeenth Century Greek Coinage |first=Paul W. |last=Blackford |journal=The Classical Journal |volume=51 |number=6 |date=March 1956 |pages=279–280 |publisher=The Classical Association of the Middle West and South |jstor=3292889}}</ref><ref name="Lyon 1985">{{cite journal |title=Introduction: Back to the Barracks? |first=Peter |last=Lyon |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=7 |number=1 |date=January 1985 |pages=9–15 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |doi=10.1080/01436598508419820 |jstor=3992118}}</ref> John Bouvier and Daniel Gleason describe a stratocracy as one where citizens with mandatory or voluntary military service, or veterans who have been honorably discharged, have the right to elect or govern. The military's administrative, judicial, and/or legislative powers are supported by law, the constitution, and the society.{{r|Bouvier}} It does not necessarily need to be autocratic or oligarchic by nature in order to preserve its right to rule. The political scientist Samuel Finer distinguished between stratocracies, where the army takes decisions and rules directly, and military regimes or dictatorships, where the army does not itself rule but instead is tasked with the primary responsibility of enforcing and defending the rule of civil leaders who set the policies of the state and control the activities of the military.{{sfnp|Finer|1985|pp=18–19}} Peter Lyon wrote that through history stratocracies have been relatively rare, and that in the latter half of the twentieth century there has been a noticeable increase in the number of stratocratic states due to the "rapid collapse of the West European thalassocracies".<ref name="Lyon 1985" />

== Notable examples of stratocracies ==

=== Historical stratocracies ===

==== Sparta ==== The Diarchy of Sparta was a stratocratic kingdom.<ref name="Gouliamos">{{cite book |chapter=Stratocracy: The Growing Hypertrophy of the LifeWorld Militarization |first1=Kostas |last1=Gouliamos |first2=Christos |last2=Kassimeris |title=The Marketing of War in the Age of Neo-Militarism |editor-first1=Kostas |editor-last1=Gouliamos |editor-first2=Christos |editor-last2=Kassimeris |publisher=Routledge |date=2012}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}} From a young age, male Spartans were put through the agoge, necessary for full-citizenship, which was a rigorous education and training program to prepare them to be warriors.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harley |first=T. Rutherford |title=The Public School of Sparta, Greece & Rome |volume=3 |number=9 |date=May 1934 |pages=129–139}}</ref> Aristotle describes the kingship of Sparta as "a kind of unlimited and perpetual generalship" (Pol. iii. 1285a), while Isocrates refers to the Spartans as "subject to an oligarchy at home, to a kingship on campaign" (iii. 24).<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Sparta |volume=25 |pages=609–14 |inline=1 |first=Marcus Niebuhr |last=Tod}}</ref>

==== Rome ==== One of the most notable and long-lived examples of a stratocratic state is Ancient Rome, though the stratocratic system developed over time.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Rome and Roman Militarism within the Anarchic Interstate System |first1=Arthur M. |last1=Eckstein |author1-link=Arthur Eckstein |title=Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome |editor-first1=Arthur |editor-last1=Eckstein |editor-link1=Arthur Eckstein |editor-first2=Nishanta |editor-last2=Rajakaruna |publisher=University of California Press |date=2007 |pages=181–243 |isbn=9780520246188 |doi=10.1525/california/9780520246188.003.0006}}</ref> Following the deposition of the last Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, Rome became a republic.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Politics and Aristocracy in the Roman Republic |first=John |last=North |author-link=John North (historian) |journal=Classical Philology |volume=85 |number=4 |date=October 1990 |pages=277–287 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |doi=10.1086/367213 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/269580 |jstor=269580 |s2cid=153671867 |access-date=4 December 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Breakdown of the Roman Republic: From Oligarchy To Empire |first=Christopher S. |last=Mackay |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2014 |location=Cambridge/New York |isbn=978-1107657021}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}} However, with the gradual expansion of the empire and conflicts with its rival Carthage, culminating in the Punic Wars, the Roman political and military system experienced drastic changes.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The calculus of conquests: the decline and fall of the returns to Roman expansion |first1=R. Morris |last1=Coats |first2=Gary M. |last2=Pecquet |journal=The Independent Review |volume=17 |number=4 |pages=517–540 |date=Spring 2013 |publisher=Independent Institute |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=1&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CA326130740&docType=Essay&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZONE-MOD1&prodId=AONE&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA326130740&searchId=R1&userGroupName=tou&inPS=true |jstor=24563133}}</ref> Following the so-called "Marian reforms", de facto political power became concentrated under military leadership, as the loyalty of the legionaries shifted from the Senate to its generals.<ref name="Flower 2004">{{cite book |last=Flower |first=Harriet I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i1rQqJo_flwC&dq=Marian+Reforms&pg=PA82 |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-00390-2 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Fuller |first=John F. C. |author-link=J. F. C. Fuller |date=1998 |title=Julius Caesar: Man, Soldier, & Tyrant |url=https://archive.org/details/juliuscaesarmans0000full_j1k4 |pages=23–24}}</ref>

Under the First Triumvirate<ref>{{cite book |title=State and Family in Early Rome |first=Charles W. L. |last=Launspach |date=1908 |publisher=George Bell And Sons |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/stateandfamilyi00laungoog/page/n15/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=Stratocracy |page=xi |quote="The Gabinian and Manilian Laws had rehearsed the stratocracy of the first Triumvirate; and after the renewed convulsions which followed Caesar's murder the world gladly found refuge in Octavians ordered despotism."}}</ref> and during the subsequent civil wars, militarism influenced the formation of the Roman Empire, the head of which was acclaimed as "Imperator", previously an honorary title for distinguished military commanders.<ref name="Reid">{{cite web |last=Reid |first=Conor |title=The Marian Reforms |url=https://www.academia.edu/454734 |website=Academia}}</ref> The Roman army either approved of or acquiesced in the accession of every Roman emperor, with the Praetorian Guard having a decisive role in Imperial succession until Emperor Constantine abolished it.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-praetorian-guard |title=8 Things You May Not Know About the Praetorian Guard |last=Andrews |first=Evan |website=HISTORY |date=29 August 2018 |language=en |access-date=23 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029205651/https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-praetorian-guard |archive-date=29 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Militarization of the Empire increased over time and emperors were increasingly beholden to their armies and fleets, yet how active emperors were in actually commanding in the field in military campaigns varied from emperor to emperor, even from dynasty to dynasty. The vital political importance of the army persisted up until the destruction of the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire with the fall of Constantinople in 1453.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Walter Kaegi |first=Walter Emil |last=Kaegi |title=Army, Society and Religion in Byzantium: Byzantine Military Unrest 471–843 |date=1983 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Adolf M. Hakkert}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}}

==== Goryeo ==== From 1170 to 1270, the kingdom of Goryeo was under effective military rule, with puppet kings on the throne serving mainly as figureheads.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yi |first=Ki-baek |title=A new history of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Published for the Harvard-Yenching Institute by Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-61575-1 |location=Cambridge, Mass. |oclc=9283320}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}} The majority of this period was spent under the rule of the Choe family, who set up a parallel system of private administrative systems from their military forces.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shultz |first=Edward J. |chapter=The Ch’oe House: Military Institutions |title=Generals and scholars : military rule in medieval Korea |date=2000 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=978-0-8248-6263-3 |location=Honolulu |oclc=70769296 |pages=54–69}}</ref>

==== Cossacks ==== thumb|The Zaporizhian Cossack host in 1654 (against the backdrop of contemporary Ukraine) Cossacks were predominantly East Slavic people who became known as members of democratic, semi-military and semi-naval communities, predominantly located in Ukraine and in Southern Russia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.clio.fr/BIBLIOTHEQUE/les_cosaques_de_la_societe_de_guerriers_a_la_caste_militaire.asp |title=Les Cosaques, de la société de guerriers à la caste militaire |trans-title=The Cossacks, from the society of warriors to the military caste |language=fr |first=Iaroslav |last=Lebedynsky |author-link=Iaroslav Lebedynsky |date=September 2002 |access-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507122328/https://www.clio.fr/BIBLIOTHEQUE/les_cosaques_de_la_societe_de_guerriers_a_la_caste_militaire.asp |archive-date=7 May 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref> They inhabited sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper,<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Paul Robert Magocsi |first=Paul Robert |last=Magocsi |title=A History of Ukraine |pages=179–181}}</ref> Don, Terek, and Ural river basins, and played an important role in the historical and cultural development of both Russia and Ukraine.<ref name=ORourke_2000>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0Zk3tUQ1M4C&q=cossacks+old+believers&pg=PA62 |title=Warriors and peasants: The Don Cossacks in late imperial Russia |isbn=978-0-312-22774-6 |last1=O'Rourke |first1=Shane |year=2000 |page=62 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |via=Google Books}}</ref> The Zaporozhian Sich<ref>{{cite book |last=Mytsyk |first=Yu |url=http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=EIU&P21DBN=EIU&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=TRN=&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STR=Volnosti_Vijska |script-chapter=uk:Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового |chapter=Volʹnosti Viysʹka Zaporozʹkoho Nyzovoho |language=uk |trans-chapter=Freedoms of the Zaporozhian Lowland Army |script-title=uk:Енциклопедія історії України |title=Entsyklopediya istoriyi Ukrayiny |trans-title=Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine |date=2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251231073810/http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?S21REF=10&S21STR=Volnosti_Vijska&Z21ID=&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P03=TRN%3D&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STN=1&S21P02=0&I21DBN=EIU&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&P21DBN=EIU |archive-date=31 December 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}} was a Cossack semi-autonomous polity and proto-state<ref>{{cite book |last=Essen |first=Michael Fredholm von |title=Muscovy's Soldiers. The Emergence of the Russian Army 1462–1689 |language=en |date=2018 |publisher=Helion & Company |location=Warwick |isbn=978-1912390106}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}} that existed between the 16th and 18th centuries, and existed as an independent stratocratic state as the Cossack Hetmanate for over a hundred years.<ref name="EoU">{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Lev |last1=Okinshevych |first2=Arkadii |last2=Zhukovsky |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CE%5CHetmanstate.htm |title=Hetman state |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Ukraine |date=1989 |volume=2 |access-date=9 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123090646/http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CE%5CHetmanstate.htm |archive-date=23 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://history.org.ua/JournALL/journal/1991/4/3.pdf |script-title=uk:Українська козацька держава |title=Ukrayinsʹka kozatsʹka derzhava |trans-title=The Ukrainian Cossack State |language=uk |last=Smoliy |first=Valeriy |author-link=Valeriy Smoliy |journal=Ukrainian Historical Journal |issue=4 |year=1991 |issn=0130-5247 |access-date=20 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123111207/http://history.org.ua/JournALL/journal/1991/4/3.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://litopys.org.ua/salto/salt04.htm |script-title=uk:Концепції Української Державності в Історії Вітчизняної Політичної Думки (від витоків до початку XX сторіччя) |title=Kontseptsiyi Ukrayinsʹkoyi Derzhavnosti v Istoriyi Vitchyznyanoyi Politychnoyi Dumky (vid vytokiv do pochatku XX storichchya) |trans-title=Concepts of Ukrainian Statehood in the History of Domestic Political Thought (from its origins to the beginning of the XX century) |last1=Saltovskiy |first1=Oleksandr |date=2002 |website=litopys.org.ua |publisher=Kyiv |access-date=22 December 2014 |language=uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123090650/http://litopys.org.ua/salto/salt04.htm |archive-date=23 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Military frontier of the Habsburg monarchy ==== The Military Frontier was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy (which became the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire).<ref>{{cite book |last=Fine |first=John Van Antwerp Jr. |author-link=John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. |title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest |year=1994 |orig-date=1987 |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0472082604 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvVbRrH1QBgC |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Horvat |first=Rudolf |title=Najnovije doba hrvatske povjesti |language=hr |trans-title=The latest era of Croatian history |url=https://archive.org/details/najnovijedobahr00horvgoog |publisher=Matica hrvatska |year=1906}} (Wikisource)</ref> The military frontier acted as the ''cordon sanitaire'' against incursions from the Ottoman Empire. Located in the southern part of Hungarian crown land, the frontier was separated from local jurisdiction and was under direct Viennese central military administration from the 1500s to 1872. Unlike the rest of the Catholic dominated territory of the empire, the frontier area had relatively freer religious laws in order to attract settlements into the area.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pálffy |first=Géza |editor-last=Davies |editor-first=Brian |title=Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1500–1800 |chapter=The Habsburg Defense System in Hungary Against the Ottomans in the Sixteenth Century: A Catalyst of Military Development in Central Europe |year=2012 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004221987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ie8xAQAAQBAJ |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Ferenc |last=Végh |date=2017 |publisher=University of Pécs Institute of History |title=Doprinos mađarske historiografije istraživanju "Vojne krajine" u ranom novom vijeku (16.-17. stoljeće) |trans-title=The Contribution of the Hungarian Historiography to the Research on the "Military Frontier" in the Early Modern Period (16th–17th Centuries) |language=hu |quote=The Habsburg government in this way came to relatively cheap military force using the South Slavic (Croatian, Vlach, Serbian) grencers |url=https://www.academia.edu/32797364 |pages=169 |website=Academia}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Carlile Aylmer |editor-last=Macartney |editor-link=Carlile Aylmer Macartney |date=2017 |title=Hungary: From Ninth Century Origins to the 1956 Uprising |page=116 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138525542}}</ref>

=== Modern stratocracies === [[File:Than Shwe 2010-10-11.jpg|thumb|160px|Senior General Than Shwe who was the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council from 1992 to 2011]] The closest modern equivalent to a stratocracy, the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar (Burma), which ruled from 1997 to 2011,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/569/news56902.html |title=Mission accomplished as SPDC 'dissolved' |first1=Shwe Yinn Mar |last1=Oo |first2=Soe Than |last2=Lynn |date=4 April 2011 |work=Myanmar Times |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916200931/http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/569/news56902.html |archive-date=16 September 2011}}</ref> arguably differed from most other military dictatorships in that it completely abolished the civilian constitution and legislature.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar/Government-and-society#ref509566 |title=Myanmar: Government and society: Administrative framework |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251112191254/https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar/Government-and-society#ref509566 |archive-date=12 November 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df097254.html |author=Resource Information Center |publisher=United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services |title=Burma [Myanmar]: State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)/ State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)/ National League for Democracy (NLD)/Burmese Dissidents |date=17 September 1998 |access-date=7 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225231654/http://www.refworld.org/docid/3df097254.html |archive-date=25 December 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> A new constitution that came into effect in 2010 cemented the Tatmadaw's hold on power through mechanisms such as reserving 25% of the seats in the legislature for military personnel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7402105.stm |title=Burma 'approves new constitution' |work=BBC News |date=15 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080721035150/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7402105.stm |archive-date=21 July 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The civilian constitutional government was dissolved again in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, with power being transferred back to the Tatmadaw through the State Administration Council.<ref>{{cite web |title=Myanmar Leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Others Detained by Military |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_myanmar-leader-aung-san-suu-kyi-others-detained-military/6201446.html |access-date=31 October 2021 |website=Voice of America |date=31 January 2021 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031220151/https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_myanmar-leader-aung-san-suu-kyi-others-detained-military/6201446.html |archive-date=31 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The United Kingdom overseas territory, the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus, provides another example of a stratocracy: British Forces Cyprus governs the territory, with Air vice-marshal Peter J. M. Squires serving as administrator from 2022.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=63825 |date=27 September 2022 |page=18258 |supp=y}}</ref> The territory is subject to unique laws different from both those of the United Kingdom and those of Cyprus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sbaadministration.org/index.php/court |title=Sovereign Base Area – Court |author=The SBA Administration |work=sbaadministration.org |access-date=24 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227033146/http://www.sbaadministration.org/index.php/court |archive-date=27 February 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== States argued to be stratocratic ==

=== United States === [[File:Eisenhower in the Oval Office.jpg|thumb|US President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously warned of a "military–industrial complex" in his farewell address.<ref>{{cite news |last=Eisenhower |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Eisenhower |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011404915.html |title=50 Years Later, We're Still Ignoring Ike's Warning |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=16 January 2011 |page=B3 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105054714/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011404915.html |archive-date=5 January 2013}}</ref>]] The political scientist Harold Lasswell wrote in 1941 of his concerns that the world was moving towards "a world of 'garrison states{{'"}} with the United States of America being one of the countries moving in that direction.{{r|Gouliamos}} This was supported by the historian Richard Kohn in 1975 commenting on the US's creation of a military state during its early independence, and by the political scientist Samuel Fitch in 1985.{{r|Gouliamos}} The historian Eric Hobsbawm has used the existence and power of the military-industrial complex in the US as evidence of it being a stratocratic state.{{r|Gouliamos}} The expansion and prioritisation of the military during the administrations of Reagan and H. W. Bush have also been described as signs of stratocracy in the US.{{r|Sirens}} The futurist Paul Saffo<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.saffo.com/02006/01/03/a-stratocracy-in-americas-future/ |title=A stratocracy in America's future? |first=Paul |last=Saffo |author-link=Paul Saffo |work=Paul Saffo |date=3 January 2006 |access-date=5 May 2021}}</ref> and the researcher Robert Marzec<ref>{{cite journal |title=Militarialitys |first=Robert P. |last=Marzec |journal=The Global South |publisher=Indiana University Press |volume=3 |number=1 |pages=139–149 |date=2009 |doi=10.2979/GSO.2009.3.1.139 |jstor=40339253 |s2cid=246279338}}</ref> have argued that the post 9/11 projection of the United States was trending towards stratocracy.

=== USSR === The philosopher and economist Cornelius Castoriadis wrote in his 1980 text, ''Facing the War'', that Russia had become the primary world military power. To sustain this, in the context of the visible economic inferiority of the Soviet Union in the civilian sector, he proposed that the society may no longer be dominated by the one-party state bureaucracy of the Communist Party but by a "stratocracy",{{sfnp|Castoriadis|1980|pp=47–48}}{{sfnp|Castoriadis|1981a|p=2–3}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The future that failed: Origins and destinies of the Soviet model |first=Johann P. |last=Arnason |publisher=Routledge |date=2005 |orig-date=1993 |isbn=0-203-99283-0 |chapter= |pages=111–112|author-link=Jóhann P. Árnason}}</ref> describing it as a separate and dominant military sector with expansionist designs on the world.{{sfnp|Castoriadis|1980|pp=47–48}}<ref name="Richard Frank">{{cite journal |last=Frank |first=Richard I. |date=1982 |title=Manfred Glauss: Der magister officiorum in der Spätantike (4.-6. Jahrhundert). Das Amt und sein Einflu? auf die kaiserliche Politik. M?nchen: Beck 1980. VII, 252 S. 2 Abb. (Vestigia. 32) |type=Review |journal=Gnomon |jstor=27688245 |pages=755–763 |volume=54 |number=8 |publisher=Verlag C.H.Beck}}</ref> He further argued that this meant there was no internal class dynamic that could lead to social revolution within Russian society and that change could only occur through foreign intervention.{{sfnp|Castoriadis|1981b|p=}}{{pn|date=January 2026}} Historian Richard I. Frank agreed highlighting similarities in the development of the administrative organs and mechanisms between the USSR and Rome in late antiquity.<ref name="Richard Frank"/> With political scientist Timothy Luke stating that under the secretaryship of Mikhail Gorbachev the USSR was moving towards a stratocratic state.{{sfnp|Luke|1987|p=127}}

=== African states === [[File:Nasser and Naguib, 1954.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Two smiling men in military uniform seated in an open-top automobile. The first man on the left is pointing his hand in a gesture. Behind the automobile are men in uniform walking away from the vehicle|Gamal Abdel Nasser (right) and Mohamed Naguib (left) during celebrations marking the second anniversary of the 1952 revolution, July 1954]] Various countries in post-colonial Africa have been described as stratocracies.<ref>{{harvp|Ujomu|2020|pp=97–115}}; {{harvp|George|1988|pp=390–419}}; {{harvp|Christie|2004}}; {{harvp|Jaywant|2014}}</ref> The Republic of Egypt under the leadership of Nasser was described by the political theorist P. J. Vatikiotis as a stratocratic state.<ref name="Collected references 1">{{harvp|Vatikiotis|1968|p=370}}; {{harvp|Anthony|1980|pp=95–96}}; {{harvp|Barfi|2018|p=27}}; {{harvp|de Grazia|1970}}</ref> The recent Egyptian governments since the Arab Spring,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.iss.europa.eu/sites/default/files/EUISSFiles/Alert_14_Egypt_and_al-Sisi.pdf |title=Behind and beyond al-Sisi's bid |first=Florence |last=Gaub |date=February 2014 |journal=Issue Alert |volume=14 |publisher=European Union Institute for Security Studies}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://studies.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/articles/reports/documents/993c41648e6249f58c843418afcd1e7b_100.pdf |title=The Battle for Sinai: The Inside Story of Egypt's Political Violence |chapter=Politics of Restoration |page=8 |publisher=Al Jazeera Centre for Studies |first=Giuseppe |last=Dentice |date=1 April 2018}}</ref> including that of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, have also been called stratocratic.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://aspeniaonline.it/stratocracy-the-economy-and-the-egyptian-elections/ |title=Stratocracy, the economy and the Egyptian elections |first=Giuseppe |last=Dentice |date=6 March 2018 |magazine=Aspenia |publisher=Aspen Institute}}</ref> David George commented in a 1988 paper that the military dictatorship of Idi Amin in Uganda and the apartheid regime in South Africa should be considered stratocracies.{{sfnp|George|1988|pp=390–419}} Various previous Nigerian governments have been described as stratocratic in research, including the government under Olusegun Obasanjo, and the Armed Forces Ruling Council led by Ibrahim Babangida.<ref>{{harvp|Akpeninor|2013|pp=330–332}}; {{harvp|Ogunjimi|1992|pp=12–16}}; {{harvp|Bangura|1991|pp=23–24}}; {{harvp|de Grazia|1970}}</ref> Under the 1978 constitution of Eswatini Sobhuza II appointed the Swazi army commander as the country's prime minister, and the second-in-command of the army as the head of the civil service board. This fusing of military and civil power continued in subsequent appointments, with many of the appointees viewing their civil roles as secondary to their military positions.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EVOLUTCHAP10.PDF |chapter=Caught between tradition and regional warfare: The Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force since 1968 |first1=Jeffrey |last1=Tshabalala |first2=Cyprian |last2=Nhlengethwa |first3=Martin |last3=Rupiya |title=Evolutions & Revolutions: A Contemporary History of Militaries in Southern Africa |editor-first=Martin |editor-last=Rupiya |date=2005 |publisher=Institute for Security Studies}}</ref> Ghana under Jerry Rawlings has also been described as being stratocratic in nature.<ref name="Sirens">{{cite book |title=Sounds Of Sirens: Essays In African Politics & Culture |first=Kwame |last=Okoampa-Ahoofe Jr. |date=4 August 2004 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9780595326785}}</ref> Karl Marx's term of barracks socialism was retermed by the political scientist Michel Martin in their description of socialist stratocracies in the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, including specifically the People's Republic of Benin.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Rise and 'Thermidorianization' of Radical Praetorianism in Benin |first=Michel Louis |last=Martin |journal=Journal of Communist Studies |volume=1 |date=1985 |number=3–4 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |doi=10.1080/13523278508414782 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13523278508414782?journalCode=fjcs19 |pages=58–81 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Military Marxist Regimes in Africa |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Markakis |editor-first2=Michael |editor-last2=Waller |date=1986 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781138995871}}</ref> Martin also believes the praetorianism of francophone African republics can be called stratocratic, including the Côte d'Ivoire and the Central African Republic.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Soldiers and Governments in Postpraetorian Africa: Cases in the Francophone Area |first=Michel Louis |last=Martin |title=Handbook of the Sociology of the Military |editor-first=Giuseppe |editor-last=Caforio |publisher=Springer |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-387-34576-5}}</ref>

=== Other === <!-- Order by date of government --> The French historian François Raguenet wrote in 1691 of the stratocracy of Oliver Cromwell in the Protectorate, and commented that he thought that William III of England was seeking to revive the stratocracy in England.<ref>{{cite book |first=Charles-Edouard |last=Levillain |author-link=Charles-Edouard Levillain |chapter=Cromwell Redivivus? William III as Military Dictator: Myth and Reality |title=Redefining William III: The Impact of the King-Stadholder in International Context |editor1-first=Esther |editor1-last=Mijers |editor2-first=David |editor2-last=Onnekink |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781315604152/redefining-william-iii-david-onnekink-esther-mijers?refId=64393806-3343-40f8-8d9d-5f5731dc7e30 |edition=1 |date=2007 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315604152 |isbn=9781315604152 |pages=164–165}}</ref>

[[File:prussiamap.gif|thumb|Prussia in the German Empire from 1871 to 1918]] The Prussian military writer Georg Henirich von Berenhorst wrote in hindsight that ever since the reign of the ''soldier king'', Prussia always remained "not a country with an army, but an army with a country" (a quote often misattributed to Voltaire and Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau).<ref>{{cite book |author=Georg Heinrich von Berenhorst |title=Aus dem Nachlasse |publisher=Eduard von Bülow |year=1845 |location=Dessau |trans-title=From the estate |language=de}}</ref> It has been argued the subsequent dominance of the Kingdom of Prussia in the North German Confederation and German Empire and the expansive militarism in their administrations and policies, saw a continuance of the stratocratic Prussian government.<ref>{{cite journal |first=F.G. |last=Stapleton |date=September 2003 |title='An Army with a State, not a State with an Army' |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/%E2%80%98-army-state-not-state-army%E2%80%99 |journal=History Review |issue=46 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508185959/https://www.historytoday.com/archive/%E2%80%98-army-state-not-state-army%E2%80%99 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Historian Christina Welsch argues that Company rule in India can be understood as stratocratic,{{sfnp|Welsch|2022|pp=2–4, 17}} highlighting the growing power of the company armies leading up to the 1809 Madras mutiny which saw as its consequence an entrenching of military officials in Company government positions.{{sfnp|Welsch|2022|pp=21–22}} In response to the mutiny and its consequences civil officials referred to the increased power of the military in government matters as "in effect a Stratocracy (the worst of all Governments)".{{sfnp|Welsch|2022|p=171}}

British commentators such as Richard Francis Burton described the pre-Tanzimat Ottoman Empire as a stratocratic state.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Journey to Medina, with Route from Yambu |first=Richard Francis |last=Burton |author-link=Richard Francis Burton |journal=Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London |volume=24 |date=1854 |pages=208–225 |publisher=Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) |doi=10.2307/3698107 |jstor=3698107}}</ref>

The Warlord Era of China is viewed as period of stratocratic struggles{{sfnp|Lin|2005|p=2}} with the researcher Peng Xiuliang pointing to the actions and policies of Wang Shizhen, a general and politician of the Republic of China, as an example of the stratocratic forces within the Chinese government of the time.<ref>{{cite book |script-title=zh:王世珍傳|trans-title=A Biography of Wang Shizhen |first=Peng |last=Xiuliang |date=2013 |publisher=Zhonghua Book Company |language=zh}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2026}}

Occupied Poland in World War I was put under the {{lang|de|General-Militärgouvernementen}} (general military governments) of Germany and Austria-Hungary. This government was a stratocratic system where the military was responsible for the political administration of Poland.<ref>{{cite journal |title=István Burián and the Settling of the Polish Issue during the First World War |journal=Prague Papers on the History of International Relations |date=2016 |issue=2 |pages=82–103 |first=Tefner |last=Zoltán |url=http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-7d81d1e5-34f5-4d63-b70b-6414a2b698f0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706204344/http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-7d81d1e5-34f5-4d63-b70b-6414a2b698f0 |archive-date=6 July 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Various military juntas of Central and South America have also been described as stratocracies.{{sfnp|Ferkaluk|2010|pp=111, 119, 122}}

Political scientist Samuel Finer argued that of the military regimes that existed in 1980, 16 could be considered to be stratocracies.{{sfnp|Finer|1985|pp=18–19}} These were Algeria under Chadli Bendjedid, Argentina, People's Republic of Benin, Burundi under Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Chile, People's Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali under Moussa Traoré, Mauritania, Niger under Seyni Kountché, Rwanda under Juvénal Habyarimana, Somalia under Siad Barre, Uruguay, and the Yemen Arab Republic under Ali Abdullah Saleh.{{sfnp|Finer|1982|pp=283–289}}

Since 1967, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem (both taken from Jordan), Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip (taken from Egypt) and the Golan Heights (taken from Syria) after the Six-Day War can be argued to have been under stratocratic rule.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://inkstickmedia.com/us-police-brutality-isnt-just-homegrown-its-imported-too/ |title=Us Police Brutality Isn't Just Homegrown, It's Imported Too |first=Sabreen |last=Abdelrahman |website=Inkstick Media |date=3 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116230414/https://inkstickmedia.com/us-police-brutality-isnt-just-homegrown-its-imported-too/ |archive-date=16 January 2025}}</ref> While the West Bank and Gaza were governed by the Israeli Military Governorate and Civil Administration<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dressing up Domination as 'Cooperation': The Case of Israeli-Palestinian Water Relations |last=Selby |first=Jan |journal=Review of International Studies |date=2003 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=121–138 |doi=10.1017/S026021050300007X |jstor=20097837 |s2cid=146759349 |url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/12317/1/S026021050300007Xa.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250419003921/https://sussex.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Dressing_up_domination_as_cooperation_the_case_of_Israeli-Palestinian_water_relations/23322248 |archive-date=19 April 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> which was later given to the Palestinian National Authority that governs the Palestinian territories, only East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights were annexed into Israeli territory from 1980 which is still internationally unrecognized and once referred to these territories by the United Nations as ''occupied Arab territories''.<ref>{{cite book |date=2007 |chapter-url=http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/89-92/Chapter%208/MIDDLE%20EAST/item%2024_occupied%20arab%20territories_.pdf |chapter=The situation in the occupied Arab territories |title=Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council 1989–1992 (11th supplement) |publisher=United Nations |pages=758–810 |isbn=978-92-1-137030-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227122418/http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/89-92/Chapter%208/MIDDLE%20EAST/item%2024_occupied%20arab%20territories_.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/legal-expert-if-israel-isn-t-occupying-west-bank-it-must-give-up-land-held-by-idf-1.449909 |title=Legal Expert: If Israel Isn't Occupying West Bank, It Must Give Up Land Held by IDF |first=Tomer |last=Zarchin |date=9 July 2012 |work=Haaretz |quote='If the Levy Committee is pushing the government to determine that Israel's presence in the West Bank does not violate international law, Israel is in a dangerous position facing the rest of the world,' said Sasson this morning to ''Haaretz''. ... 'For 45 years, different compositions of the High Court of Justice stated again and again that international law applies to the West Bank, which is clearly opposed to Levy's findings. This is a colossal turnaround, which I do not think is within his authority. He can tell the government that he recommends changing legal status, and that's all,' said Sasson. |access-date=12 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108155635/https://www.haaretz.com/experts-reject-outpost-report-1.5265304 |archive-date=8 November 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Fictional stratocracies == Stratocratic forms of government have been popular in fictional stories.{{sfnp|Olson|2020}}

The country of Amestris in the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' manga and anime series is a nominal parliamentary republic without elections,<ref name="Grimes 2021">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/fullmetal-alchemist-amestris-facts-trivia/ |title=Fullmetal Alchemist: 10 Things You Need To Know About Amestris |first=Hannah |last=Grimes |date=22 June 2021 |website=cbr.com |access-date=1 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628045105/https://www.cbr.com/fullmetal-alchemist-amestris-facts-trivia/ |archive-date=28 June 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> where parliament has been used as a façade to distract from the authoritarian regime,{{r|Grimes 2021}} as the government is almost completely centralized by the military, and the majority of government positions are occupied by military personnel.{{sfnp|Olson|2020}} In Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino's ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', the Earth Kingdom is very divided and during the Hundred Year War relies on an unofficial confederal stratocratic rule of small towns to maintain control from the Fire Nation's military, without the Earth Monarch's assistance.{{sfnp|Olson|2020}} Both Eldia and Marley from the Japanese manga and anime series ''Attack on Titan'' are stratocratic nations ruled by military governments. After a coup d'état, the government of Eldia was displaced in favor of a military-led system with a puppet monarchy as its public front.<ref>{{cite book |title=Attack on Titan |chapter=70 |last=Isayama |first=Hajime |author-link=Hajime Isayama |publisher=Kodansha Comics |pages=1, 18–25 |date=April 2016}}</ref>{{Original research inline||date=February 2026}} The five members of Greater Turkiye in the manga and anime ''Altair: A Record of Battles'' are called stratocracies, with them being based on the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{cite book |title=Altair: A Record of Battles |volume=1 |date=2017 |last=Kotono |first=Kato |publisher=講談社 |author-link=Kotono Kato |isbn=9784063731125}}</ref>

The Cardassian Union of the ''Star Trek'' universe can be described as a stratocracy, with a constitutionally and socially sanctioned, as well as a politically dominant military that nonetheless has immense totalitarian characteristics.{{sfnp|Olson|2020}} The Galactic Empire from the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy can be described as a stratocracy. Although ruled by the Sith through its Emperor, Sheev Palpatine, known secretly as Darth Sidious, the functioning of the entire government was controlled by the military and explicitly sanctioned by its leaders. All sectors were controlled by a Moff or Grand Moff who were also high-ranking military officers.{{sfnp|Olson|2020}} The Global Defense Initiative from the ''Command & Conquer'' franchise is another example: initially being a United Nations task force to combat the Brotherhood of Nod and research the alien substance Tiberium, later expanding to a worldwide government led by military leaders<ref name="CC1_Manual">{{cite book |last1=Finger |first1=Penina |first2=Adam |last2=Isgreen |first3=Erik |last3=Yeo |title=Command & Conquer: Instruction Manual |location=Las Vegas, Nevada |publisher=Westwood Studios |date=1997 |url=https://cnc-comm.com/files/CC-Manual.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224165747/https://cnc-comm.com/files/CC-Manual.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> after the collapse of society due to Tiberium's devastating effects on Earth.<ref name="CC2_Manual">{{cite book |last1=Stojsavljević |first1=Rade |last2=O'Miley |first2=Ryan |title=Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun: Operations Manual |location=Las Vegas, Nevada |publisher=Westwood Studios |date=1999}}</ref> The Turian Hierarchy of ''Mass Effect'' is another example of a fictional stratocracy, where the civilian and military populations cannot be distinguished, and the government and the military are the same, and strongly meritocratic, with designated responsibilities for everyone.<ref name="Childers 2020">{{cite web |url=https://www.thegamer.com/mass-effect-turians-facts-trivia/ |title=Mass Effect: Everything You Didn't Know About Turians |first=Juliet |last=Childers |date=9 November 2020 |website=thegamer |access-date=1 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519182713/https://www.thegamer.com/mass-effect-turians-facts-trivia/ |archive-date=19 May 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Delgreco 2020">{{cite web |last=Delgreco |first=Marina |date=19 November 2020 |url=https://gamerant.com/mass-effect-turian-race-facts/ |title=A Deep Dive Into Mass Effect's Loyal and Dedicated Turian Alien Race |website=Game Rant |access-date=1 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120145026/https://gamerant.com/mass-effect-turian-race-facts/ |archive-date=20 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In Robert A. Heinlein's ''Starship Troopers'', the Terran Federation was set up by a group of military veterans in Aberdeen, Scotland when governments collapsed following a world war.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert A. |last=Heinlein |author-link=Robert A. Heinlein |title=Starship Troopers |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |date=1959 |isbn=978-0450044496}}</ref> While national service is voluntary, earning citizenship in the Federation requires civilians to "enroll in the Federal Service of the Terran Federation for a term of not less than two years and as much longer as may be required by the needs of the Service."<ref>{{cite web |first=Alexander |last=Salter |title=The Political Economy of "Starship Troopers" |url=https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2016/08/rights-responsibilities-political-economy-starship-troopers.html |website=The Imaginative Conservative |date=11 August 2016 |access-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915015039/http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2016/08/rights-responsibilities-political-economy-starship-troopers.html |archive-date=15 September 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Allen 2020">{{cite web |url=http://pages.erau.edu/~andrewsa/sci_fi_projects_fall_2020/Project_2/Allen_Natalie/Allen_Natalie/AllenStarshipTroopers/AllenStarshipTroopers.html |last=Allen |first=Natalie |title=Voting Rights in Starship Troopers and Early American History |date=2020 |website=Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University |access-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129195628/http://pages.erau.edu/~andrewsa/sci_fi_projects_fall_2020/Project_2/Allen_Natalie/Allen_Natalie/AllenStarshipTroopers/AllenStarshipTroopers.html |archive-date=29 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> While Federal Service is not exclusively military service, that appears to be the dominant form. It is believed that only those willing to sacrifice their lives on the state's behalf are fit to govern. While the government is a representative democracy, the franchise is only granted to people who have completed service, mostly in the military, due to this law (active military can neither vote nor serve in political/non-military offices).{{sfnp|Olson|2020}}

== See also == * Junta (governing body) * Militarism * Military government: ** Military dictatorship ** Military junta ** Military occupation * Political strongman

== References == {{Reflist}}

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Category:Authoritarianism Category:Forms of government Category:Militarism Category:Military sociology