By John M. Owen IV
Insofar as I remember my own thinking before I was trained in political science, my natural inclination concerning political life was toward idealism. I tended to believe that ideas—especially political ideas or ideologies—were where the action was, and I assumed that ideologies motivated people more than material interests did.
Read MoreBy Hossein Askari
In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the fundamental stability of the conventional financial system has been seriously questioned. Excessive leveraging, combined with an inherent asset-liability mismatch, exposes institutions to unsupportable risk, and threatens the overall soundness of the financial system.
Read MoreBy Steven C. Roach
States adopt policies and strategies designed to serve primarily their own national interests. The International Criminal Court’s recent indictments of Omar al-Bashir and Moammar el-Qaddafi highlight growing concerns with some states’ strategies. My aim is to address these concerns as well as the changing, positive dynamics of imposing international justice.
Read MoreBy Oona A. Hathaway, Sabria McElroy, Sara Aronchick Solow
During the first hundred and seventy years of US history, courts generally applied a strong presumption that treaties could be used by private litigants to press their claims. That presumption began to erode in the wake of World War II, and in 2008 the United States Supreme Court effectively reversed it.
Read MoreBy J. Michael Greig and Paul F. Diehl
It is important to recognize the distinctions between the short-term and long-term effects of peacekeeping missions and to understand the ways in which the presence of peacekeepers shapes the incentives of warring sides to reach peace agreements.
Read MoreBy Michael Beckley
Two assumptions dominate current debates on US foreign policy toward Pakistan. First, Pakistan shares a robust “all- weather” friendship with China centered on core national interests. Second, Pakistan’s ability to turn to China in times of need insulates it from US pressure and renders hardline US policies counterproductive.
Read MorePakistan’s historical and contemporary support for jihadi groups has caused US policy prescriptions over the past decade to focus prominently on the need to change Pakistan’s strategic orientation. In this article, the authors explore one aspect of Pakistan’s strategic calculations that has received insufficient attention in public debate: the degree to which Afghanistan’s aggressions against Pakistan have helped to shape the latter’s support for religious militant groups.
Read MoreBy Matthew Adam Kocher, PhD
State capacity has become a central concept in the study of security. The author argues that common uses of the concept to explain violent conflict are tautologies. He outlines several ways to disaggregate the state analytically which have the potential to lead to more rigorous empirical research on violence.
Read MoreBy Mark V. Vlasic and Jenae N. Noell
Typically not counted among the battles to be waged in the fight for global security, Mark V. Vlasic and Jenae N. Noell argue that stemming corruption through stolen asset recovery programs has the ability to fortify the rule of law and reduce state impunity in the developing world.
Read MoreBy Samantha R. McRoskey
This article examines the ability of Olympic planners to foster lasting security and prosperity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by considering the complex history and causes of violence in the city and comparing them to plans already in place for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Read MoreBy Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, PhD
Increases in United States-led Western military expenditures ostensibly vindicate the fear of international terrorism as an escalating imminent threat to U.S. and Western national security. However, the most urgent dangers to security come not from terrorism per se, but from the converging impacts of global systemic crises, including climate change, hydrocarbon energy depletion, economic and financial breakdown, and plummeting food production.
Read MoreBy Christian Leuprecht, PhD
Why do minority populations often grow faster than majorities? States in dyadic conflict with a minority whose population growth exceeds that of the majority are prone to protective measures to bolster the majority’s grip on power. Under conditions of ethnic control, however, such measures appear to precipitate higher fertility rates among the minority.
Read MoreBy Mitchell McNaylor
Although private military companies (PMCs) operating in the service of the United States are widely believed to operate outside of any legal framework, such an understanding is based on a perceived, rather than real gap in jurisdiction.
Read MoreBy Tara Murphy
National defense is no longer ensured only through maintaining the sanctity of one’s borders, but is also highly dependent upon the ability to navigate safely through the global commons. These commons—sea, air, space, and cyberspace—enable militaries to protect national territory and interests, as well as facilitate the passage of goods, people, communication, and data upon which every member of the international community depends. Yet, a number of emerging trends are threatening this freedom of action.
Read MoreBy Christian Davenport and Molly Inman
By the end of 2006, it had become clear to most observers that the U.S. strategy in Iraq was rapidly deteriorating. During that year, Iraqi civilian fatalities began to approach 4,000 per month, and sectarian violence and al-Qaeda activity was spreading and intensifying. What was the source of the physical threat?
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