The M3-Dataset is the most comprehensive global dataset for the multidimensional exploration of militarization, differentiating between material, political, and societal dimensions.
Dataset at a glance
Three dimensions of militarization
Allocation of economic and social resources to the armed forces.
- Military expenditure as % of GDP
- Military expenditure vs. health spending
- Personnel-to-population ratio
- Heavy weapons index
The degree to which the military holds decision-making power and political influence.
- Military origin of regime
- Military veto power
- Military impunity
- Military repression
Expansion of the military’s role in societal institutions and daily life.
- Conscription practices
- Military policing
- Military economic activities
About the data
The M3-Dataset combines existing data sources with newly collected original data. Material and political indicators draw from established datasets including the Global Militarisation Index (GMI), V-Dem, and the Database of Political Institutions. The societal dimension — the most novel contribution — includes expert-coded data from a 2023 survey of 509 country experts on military policing across all 157 countries, as well as data on military economic activities from the MIITE Dataset.
Data on military repression was generated by manually filtering over 19,000 violent events from the PITF Worldwide Atrocities Dataset, cross-checked against more than 9,400 US State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Key finding
Using the M3 Dataset, the authors provide the first global cross-national analysis of military policing and its impact on violence and human rights. Military involvement in crime prevention — the fastest-growing form of military policing since 2000 — is significantly associated with increased physical violence and decreased civil liberties, consistent with findings from Latin America but now demonstrated at a global scale.
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