(This is an essay from our print quarterly 'The Southasian Military Complex'. See more from the issue here.)
The small island nation of the Maldives has little to fear from external enemy forces. Its closest neighbours are Sri Lanka and India – both firm allies. All SAARC member-states have been on good terms with consecutive Maldivian governments since the country gained independence and began entering into bilateral relations. Despite China and the US having rival interests in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives appears to be keeping both on side. Analysts predict that in terms of security threats, the Maldives has most to fear from those arising from non-traditional sources, such as piracy, terrorism, and, increasingly, climate change. Given this geostrategic scenario, it should be safe to assume that the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) would be playing a less central role in matters of state than armed forces in other countries of the region such as Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Not so.
The MNDF permeates every aspect of Maldivian life today, from education to entertainment, faith to leisure. Indeed, a cursory look at the activities that the force has initiated or partaken in since the swearing in of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on 17 November 2013 provides a snapshot of how deep the military's tentacles now penetrate civilian life.
Quite apart from the type of activities that armies are expected to be involved in during peacetime (such as major rescue operations and natural disaster mitigation), the MNDF competes in almost all national sports tournaments, from swimming, volleyball, basketball and football down to billiards and other traditional pursuits. At the same time it has gone into overdrive to win the 'hearts and minds' of young people. The MNDF holds fire-drills in pre-schools, invites children to regional military bases, allows minors to play with weapons during 'children's evenings with the MNDF', holds 'healthy living classes' in schools, runs 'significance of leadership' classes, and organises 'youth camps' billed as 'a weekend with the MNDF' on military training islands.
Besides this unspoken 'get them young' policy, the MNDF also appears to have an endless list of events and activities targeted at the general population, ranging from classes to teach people how to recite the Qur'an 'properly' to running multi-media workshops on various islands. They also train volunteer firefighters, provide scuba diving lessons, run first aid classes and host 'military family evenings'. The force is likewise ever-ready to provide the requisite pomp to any national or international occasion, be it Independence Day, National Day, Martyr's Day, Women's Day, Heroes Day or World Health Day. The annual Mr MNDF competition, in which members of the force strip down and perform body-building challenges, is, however, the forces very own opportunity to flex its muscle.