Analysts agree that security and defence policies are rarely decided by the civilian politicians who are nominally in charge.

A coup seemed inevitable in 1973, but it was thought that the military would soon hand back power to the civilian politicians.

But it became a political force in the country over decades owing to deliberate choices on the part of both military rulers and civilian politicians.

Civilian politicians reorganized, reequipped, and professionalized the discredited armed forces and tried to subject them to civilian control.

His cabinet consisted solely of career bureaucrats as he distrusted career civilian politicians.