Rational for Widening the Research Paradigms in Defence Environment

To date, a  large amount of the research conducted within defence organisations has been restricted  both in terms of the research paradigms employed  and the content areas covered. The paradigms have been predominately positivist and the content has tended to privealge investigations of actions carried out by uniformed military.  This paper will argue that the imposition of the neoliberal agenda on most defence organisations has resulted in a civilisation and privisitation of defence. The consequences of this imposition have been so profound as to  have altered the very way in which the military can conduct war.  As will be demonstrated in the paper these changes in turn also warrant a change in the nature and frequency of the research paradigms used.  The present reality is that the pace of reforms has outstrippled the ability of researchers to stay abrest of these developments let alone to engage in sound, explanatory, theoretical development. Researchers have been further hampered by the predomiante use of research paradigms and methodological approaches ill-suited to invesigating the complexity of these developments and in particular the social systems involved.

 Examples drawn from Iraq and Afghanistan will be used to demonstrate the limitations of exisiting research approaches to meet the current and future challenges associated with the ongoing nature of defence reforms and transformations.  Emerging topics which are explored to justify a change in research appraoches include the blurring of boundaries between and military and its suppliers; the increased dependence on contractors to generate military capability in the battlespace; and the raft of unresolved moral and ethical dilemmas as well as the jurisdictional nightmare that has followed as a result. The overall aim of the paper is to demonstrate why different topics require different research approaches.