Ayesha Siddiqa. Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2007. 292 pages. Paperback. Rs 450.00

The book is about business interests of the military inPakistan. It looks at the political economy of military’s businessactivities and the personal economic stakes of military personnel as thedriver of political ambitions of the armed forces. The author has coinedthe term ‘Milbus’ for military’s business activities. She defines‘Milbus’ as ‘military capital used for the personal benefit of militaryfraternity’. Apart from the Introduction, the book has ten chapters.Chapter 1, ‘Milbus: A Theoretical Concept’, argues that Milbus prevailsin most militaries around the world. The extent to which Milbus prevailsin a military depends upon the civil-military relations and the strengthof political institutions in the country. The chapter outlines sixdistinct categories of civil-military relations along a continuum of thestrength of civil institutions. Polity’s that boast of strong civilinstitutions, see political forces rule over the country with militaryplaying a subservient role. As the strength of civil institutionsdeclines, militaries penetrate, with the role military becoming completewhen the state fails. This is the state where warlords rule. Chapter 2,‘The Pakistan Military: The Development of Praetorianism’, argues thatcertain structural lacunae in Pakistan’s political system, dating backto 1947, brought the military to fore. Governments of the day, havingfailed to promote socioeconomic development, promoted the nationalsecurity paradigm, to retain their political legitimacy. This broughtthe military to the forefront. The ascent of military is owed on the onehand to the weak political leadership, that gave the military anopportunity to assert itself, and on the other hand to the authoritarianinclination of civil governments, that compelled these governments topartner with the military. Thus the seed of praetorianism were sown fromthe very beginning.