The Role of the Army in the Life of Society

The influence of the army on the life of society, on the situation in the world, and especially on relationships between states with opposing systems, on their social political and economic development, on scientific and technological progress and on culture has become the subject of an acute ideological struggle. Publications by Soviet authors have devoted considerable attention to exposing the reactionary and unscientific nature of bourgeois views about the army,1 and to the antipopular and aggressive essence of imperialist armies, especially the U.S. army.2 In the present article we shall attempt to provide a critical analysis of the latest bourgeois theories about the role of the army in the international and domestic life of modern states.