PUBLICATIONS
Spring 2005
"Who's Keeping the Peace? Regionalization and Contemporary Peace Operations"
International Security, issue 4, volume 29
By Alex Bellamy and Paul Williams
Have non–United Nations peace operations enhanced international peace and security? Or have they produced a multitiered, regionalized system that threatens to undermine the UN’s global mission?
AP Photo
Fall 2011
"The Collapse of North Korea: Military Missions and Requirements"
International Security, issue 36, volume 2
By Bruce W. Bennett and Jennifer Lind
The upcoming transition in North Korea’s leadership will not inevitably bring about a collapse of government, but the potential consequences of such an event necessitate advance and combined planning. It is imperative that China, South Korea, and the United States develop a coordinated response, as each of these countries could take destabilizing action to protect their individual interests. A relatively benign collapse could require 260,000 to 400,000 troops to gain control of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, prevent humanitarian disaster, manage regional refugees, and ensure stable U.S.-Chinese relations. Civil war or war on the peninsula would only increase these requirements.
Summer 2004
"Correspondence: Israel and the Bomb"
International Security, issue 1, volume 29
By Louis Rene Beres and Zeev Maoz
Louis Rene Beres replies to Zeev Maoz's fall 2003 International Security article "The Mixed Blessing of Israel's Nuclear Policy."
Summer 2000
"Understanding Decisionmaking, U.S. Foreign Policy, and the Cuban Missile Crisis: A Review Essay"
International Security, issue 1, volume 25
The author recognizes that Essence of Decision, by Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow, has been influential, but contends that the revised edition neither explains the Cuban missile crisis nor resolves some of the conceptual problems of the first edition.
Winter 2011/12
"Correspondence: Civilians, Soldiers, and the Iraq Surge Decision"
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."
Fall 2000
"Is Strategy an Illusion?"
International Security, issue 2, volume 25
By Richard Betts, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1974-1975; Editorial Board, Quarterly Journal: International Security
The author concludes that the prospects for successfully implementing a particular strategy are weak at best. With this qualification in mind, he then outlines several scenarios in which strategy can work.
Fall 1999
"Must War Find a Way? A Review Essay"
International Security, issue 2, volume 24
By Richard Betts, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1974-1975; Editorial Board, Quarterly Journal: International Security
The author assesses Van Evera's claim that "war is more likely when it is perceived to be easy" and offers his critical analysis of offense-defense theory and Van Evera's contribution to it.
Spring 2013
"Correspondence: Assessing the Synergy Thesis in Iraq"
International Security, issue 4, volume 37
By John Hagan, Joshua Kaiser, Anna Hanson, Jon R. Lindsay, Austin Long, Stephen Biddle, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985–1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Jeffrey A. Friedman, Research Fellow, International Security Program and Jacob N. Shapiro
John Hagan, Joshua Kaiser, and Anna Hanson; Jon R. Lindsay and Austin G. Long respond to Stephen Biddle, Jeffrey A. Friedman, and Jacob N. Shapiro's summer 2012 International Security article, "Testing the Surge: Why Did Violence Decline in Iraq in 2007?"
AP Photo
September 2012
"Giving the Surge Partial Credit for Iraq's 2007 Reduction in Violence"
By Stephen Biddle, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985–1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Jeffrey A. Friedman, Research Fellow, International Security Program and Jacob N. Shapiro
Why did violence decline in Iraq in 2007? Many credit the "surge," or the program of U.S. reinforcements and doctrinal changes that began in January 2007. Others cite the voluntary insurgent stand-downs of the Sunni Awakening or say that the violence had simply run its course after a wave of sectarian cleansing. Evidence drawn from recently declassified data on violence at local levels and a series of seventy structured interviews with coalition participants finds little support for the cleansing or Awakening theses. This analysis constitutes the first attempt to gather systematic evidence across space and time to help resolve this debate, and it shows that a synergistic interaction between the surge and the Awakening was required for violence to drop as quickly and widely as it did.
Summer 2012
"Testing the Surge: Why Did Violence Decline in Iraq in 2007?"
International Security, issue 1, volume 37
By Stephen Biddle, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985–1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Jeffrey A. Friedman, Research Fellow, International Security Program and Jacob N. Shapiro
Why did violence decline in Iraq in 2007? A new analysis suggests that a synergistic interaction between the surge and the Awakening caused the significant drop in violence, creating a set of circumstances that neither could have achieved alone.
