militarism

Other forms: militarisms

Places where armed government forces have a strong presence are usually under militarism. A system of militarism would probably buy weapons and outfit soldiers before anything else.

Some countries govern through militarism to keep their territories under strong and often bullied rule and to let other countries know that they have guns and bombs and they're not afraid to use them — even on their own people. Militarism often is paired with other nouns like dictatorship showing the strict power of the leadership.