Peter D. Feaver

October, 2001

Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National Security

Book

By Peter D. Feaver, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985-1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security and Richard H. Kohn

Many commentators have pointed to an emerging civil-military "gap" in the United States.  Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen declared that a "chasm" is opening between the military and civilian worlds.  Some claim that America's armed forces and its civilians no longer share the same values and understanding of the role of the military.  Others go so far as to suggest that the U.S. military is becoming less willing to accept civilian direction.

Winter 2011/12

"Correspondence: Civilians, Soldiers, and the Iraq Surge Decision"

Journal Article, International Security, issue 3, volume 36

By Richard Betts, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1974-1975; Editorial Board, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Michael C. Desch, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security and Peter D. Feaver, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985-1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security

Richard K. Betts and Michael C. Desch respond separately  to Peter D. Feaver's spring 2011 International Security article, "The Right to Be Right: Civil-Military Relations and the Iraq Surge Decision."

AP Photo

Spring 2011

"The Right to Be Right: Civil-Military Relations and the Iraq Surge Decision"

Journal Article, International Security, issue 4, volume 35

By Peter D. Feaver, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985-1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security

President George W. Bush’s Iraq surge decision in late 2006 is an interest­ing case for civil-military relations theory, in particular, the debate between professional supremacists and civilian supremacists over how much to defer to the military on decisions during war.

Winter 2005/06

"Success Matters: Casualty Sensitivity and the War in Iraq"

Journal Article, International Security, issue 3, volume 30

By Peter D. Feaver, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985-1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Christopher Gelpi and Jason Reifler

"Success Matters" authoritatively explains the rationale for the George W. Bush administration's attempts to maintain U.S. domestic support for the war in Iraq. In 2005, as the war became increasingly unpopular, Peter Feaver, one of the article's authors, was appointed to the National Security Council staff as special adviser for strategic planning and institutional reform. He has reportedly played a key role in shaping U.S. policy. Feaver and his coauthors conclude that the American public will support a war when it believes that success is likely. This article offers a detailed look at the analysis that underpins current U.S. policy. It is suggested that the public will even tolerate relatively high levels of casualties if victory is the probable outcome of the war. These conclusions have served as the basis for the "strategy for victory" that President Bush outlined in his November 30, 2005 Naval Academy speech and elsewhere.

Summer 2000

"Brother, Can You Spare a Paradigm? (Or Was Anybody Ever a Realist?)"

Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 25

By Andrew Moravcsik, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1986-1988, Jeffrey W. Legro, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1987-1989, Peter D. Feaver, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985-1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Gunther Hellmann, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1987-1988, Randall Schweller, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Jeffrey W. Taliaferro and William Wohlforth, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security

In this issue's correspondence section, Peter Feaver, Gunther Hellmann, Randall Schweller, Jeffrey Taliaferro, and William Wohlforth argue against points made in Jeffrey Legro and Andrew Moravcsik's fall 1999 article "Is Anybody Still a Realist?" Legro and Moravcsik respond to their critics.

"Assuring Control of Nuclear Weapons: The Evolution of Permissive Action Links"

Occasional Paper

By Peter Stein, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985-1986 and Peter D. Feaver, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985-1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security