Culture, identity, and ethnicity are central to understanding political behavior and the complex questions of military behavior in developing countries. Drawing on distinctive military periods in Fiji, Pakistan, and Uganda, each of which exemplifies, respectively, the main elements of the three schools of thought regarding ethnicity—primordialist, instrumentalist, and constructivist—this study argues that the fundamental behavior patterns associated with ethnicity relate directly to the problems and promises of military establishments in developing countries. By recognizing and understanding the dynamics of the culture of identity, military establishments in new political systems may better understand their own ethnic or “quasi-ethnic” politics. As developing military establishments build a quasi-ethnic identity, this will reinforce the growth of nationalism, which, in an age of ethnicity, would seem to posit a direct threat to democracy.

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Purpose New Zealand has had success in combating corruption. It has been ranked consistently as one of the five least corrupt countries in the world. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on this accomplishment. Design/methodology/approach An analysis of the policies, socio-cultural attributes and historical and geographical elements that have contributed to New Zealand’s success in combating corruption. Findings New Zealand’s long-term geographical isolation, egalitarian socio-economic and cultural traditions, its close legal and cultural affinity with Britain, and its unique regulatory civil service largely explain its success in combating corruption. Nevertheless, global influences, the absence of a single anti-corruption agency, and changing values may be eroding New Zealand’s record of success. Originality/value This paper will be useful to policy makers and those concerned with New Zealand’s recent decline in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.

The end of the Cold War had profoundly affected Brazilian military thought, and, consequently, military planning and development, by the late 1990s. Recent evidence suggests that the Brazilian military is increasingly concerned with threats to national sovereignty putatively posed by international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the most industrialized countries. Moreover, the Brazilian military sees such threats as likely to be clothed in the guise of "idealistic" concerns, including the protection of aboriginal (and other human) rights, and the protection of the environment. The traditional military preoccupation with the Brazilian Amaz6nia has clearly been intensified by these perceptions. While low-intensity conflict with traffickers in contraband and with guerrillas remains a central concern in military planning for the region, there is increasing discussion by key military officers of larger threats. Reinforced by NATO's attack on Yugoslavia, a new, post-Cold War era in Brazilian military thought appears to be taking shape, one in which defense against direct threats to national sovereignty, principally in the vast Amazon region, has become a central tenet. Brazil's new "Policy for National Defense," and its creation of a civilian-led Ministry of Defense, should be seen in this new context.

While New Zealand enjoys a widely held view that it symbolises the qualities of a corruption‐free democracy, over the past several years corruption scandals have increased markedly in number and intensity. It appears that corruption is becoming a part of the language of politics in New Zealand in a new way. This article explores this proposition with a particular focus on the incidence and character of corruption scandals during politically significant periods. It is an exploratory and admittedly impressionistic analysis that surveys the incidence of corruption scandals between 2000 and 2016. The article examines media reports of corruption scandals and the apparent and periodic appearance of the accumulation of corruption scandals, or scandal clusters. The primary goal is to explore whether such clusters are evident in media reports, whether these appear to be qualitatively different in concentration and intensity, and if so, to ask what new questions this raises for further research.