Education outside their institutions in order to export this ethos . Critics point out that this has not worked out so well , and use this as proof that the security sector would fail in the area of education . However , they forget that these officers are deployed there as individuals . They cannot change the culture that they find in an institution . On the contrary , they get swallowed by the culture of the institutions where they are posted , and are likely to lose the clarity and effectiveness that led to their deployment . For such deployments to have effects on the culture of the institutions to which such officers are deployed , they would need to deploy what constitutes a critical mass of officers into that institution .
It seems this is the only alternative to actually handing over institutions to the security sector . When the Rwanda National Police was created in 2000 , a critical mass of officers of the RDF were deployed there in order to transfer the organizational capacity and culture of the latter into the former . Today , it is difficult to separate the two in terms of doctrine and how it is manifest in producing the clarity of purpose around security and law enforcement .
The point is that if a leader is good , he or she will need a critical mass to implement her doctrine ; without a critical mass ready to support her , any attempt from her to impose discipline will mean death , a coup , or exile .
Critics also point out that “ militarized ” education will kill innovation and out of the box thinking . This is not supported by evidence . Some of the best schools in the world belong to the military , although they are not military schools . West Point , for instance , is in the caliber of Ivy League schools .
Moreover , the military has been the centre of innovation in the US and Israel ; they have globally renowned think tanks that shape global thinking on strategic matters . The US defense is responsible for discovering the Internet , for instance . The RDF , on a lesser scale and for obvious reasons , has been investing in Research and Development .
If anything , the present education system of cramming and regurgitating information is – by design and intent – a militarized education ; it takes place in an environment of command and control in the classroom where only the superior ( the teachers ) knows everything and the subordinates ( students ) know nothing .
Therefore , critics confuse the concepts of discipline and command . They are not the same thing . Out-of-the-box thinking may be difficult to nurture in an environment of command ; however , no worthwhile endeavor – including innovation – happens without discipline . As noted above , the military has traditionally excelled at research and innovation . I think discipline has a lot to do with that .
Even if one were to concede that argument on militarization as somewhat valid , does Rwanda ’ s security sector fit the definition of a militarized force ? Is it bru-
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