ABSTRACT
To say that militarism arises for political reasons is not really saying very much. After all, it could be argued that all reasons are in some sense political. Economic imperatives, status considerations and so forth can all be seen as being broadly political. We are here dealing with a dishearteningly inclusive term. What we can say with reasonable confidence is that militarism, as we have defined it, is not peculiar to any particular kind of polity. All types of society can be – and have been – militaristic in the sense that they have been prepared to wage wars of aggression and/or to intimidate by force of arms in order to further their interests and ambitions.
