the.com/antimilitarism
The belief that armies make great parades and terrible foreign policy.
means The political stance opposing militarism, standing armies, and the glorification of military force as tools of state power.
from Built from the Greek-rooted 'anti-' (against) plus 'militarism,' itself from Latin 'militaris' (of a soldier), from 'miles' (soldier). 'Militarism' as a word crystallized in the 19th century to name the belief that military strength and values should dominate a nation's priorities — and antimilitarism arrived as its natural shadow, gaining real force among socialist and pacifist movements before and after World War I, who watched the parades and wanted no part of where they led.
- not pacifism
- opposes military power, not necessarily all violence
- historic roots
- grew alongside socialism and anti-colonial movements
- key critique
- targets militarism as political culture, not just war itself
- modern form
- fuels debates over defense budgets and conscription