Monica Duffy Toft

September 6, 2006

"Conclusion: Seven Lessons Learned from the Fog of Peace"

Book Chapter

By Talbot C. Imlay and Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

"...the fog of peace can never be entirely pierced. Flexibility and constant cultivation of the ability to question received wisdom and to reconsider assumptions are the best security against catastrophic failure in a future war, regardless of whether that war resembles a more traditional interstate war or the current war on terror."

August 20, 2006

"Religion's Flame Burns Brighter Than Ever"

Op-Ed, Baltimore Sun

By Timothy Samuel Shah and Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

What happened to the world's transition to secularism?

July 2006

"Religion, Civil War, and International Order"

Discussion Paper

By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

This article addresses the question of why religion becomes a central issue in some civil wars whereas in others—even many of those whose primary combatants identify strongly with a particular religion—it has not.

yaznotjaz

July / August 2006

"Why God is Winning"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy

By Timothy Samuel Shah and Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

"Religion was supposed to fade away as globalization and freedom spread. Instead, it's booming around the world, often deciding who gets elected. And the divine intervention is just beginning. Democracy is giving people a voice, and more and more, they want to talk about God."

January 27, 2006

"When Terrorists Go Mainstream"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

"Hamas has historically done much better at providing for the basic needs of Palestinian Arabs than the Palestinian Authority (Fatah). That's why Hamas won...."

AP Photo

January-March 2006

"Issue Indivisibility and Time Horizons as Rationalist Explanations for War"

Journal Article, Security Studies, issue 1, volume 15

By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

This paper focuses on two rationalist explanations for war: issue indivisibility and time horizons. It argues that both types of bargaining problems have not only been undertheorized in the international relations literature, but that a non-trivial proportion of the violence witnessed since the end of the Cold War may be explained by these obstacles to non-violent conflict resolution. It uses the case of Russia's two most recent wars in Chechnya.

October 25, 2004

"'Peace with Honor' in Iraq"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Ivan Arreguin-Toft, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2002-2009

"The only other remaining policy option is to expand military service, and if history is any guide, providing security in Iraq will require an army of at least a million soldiers."

Fall 2004

"Book Review: The Political Economy of Armed Conflict: Beyond Greed and Grievance by Karen Ballentine and Jake Sherman, eds"

Journal Article, Political Science Quarterly, issue 3, volume 119

By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

Summer 2004

"Book Review: War and Reconciliation: Reason and Emotion in Conflict Resolution by William J. Long and Peter Brecke"

Journal Article, Journal of Cold War Studies, issue 3, volume 7

By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

2003

The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory

Book

By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy

This book addresses the crucial role of territory in explaining ethnic violence.  The theory of indivisible territory is explored in an attempt to explain why some conflicts turn violent and others do not.  The case studies consist of Russia in relation to the Chechens and Tartars and Georgia in relation to the Abkhaz and Ajars, roughly from 1990 to 1994.