Who your friends are shapes who your enemies are and vice versa. Starting with this premise, Mixed Blessings takes up two related research questions: how does a state's relational web of security assistance (amity) influence its relationships of threat (enmity), and how does a state's relational web of enmity influence its relationships of amity? Drawing on theories of alliance politics and deterrence theory, Kyle Beardsley uncovers the causes and consequences of security assistance throug...

This book introduces the near crisis phase of conflict and escalation.These time-sensitive disputes between states, and even with violent non-state actors, do not involve significant risk of military escalation, at least in the moment. Investigating how and why some near crises escalate, while others do not, requires an explanation of the different dynamics of international disputes and the policy tools that states and international institutions can employ. We ask an expanded set o...

Mediation has become a common technique for terminating violent conflicts both within and between states; while mediation has a strong record in reducing hostilities, it is not without its own problems. In The Mediation Dilemma, Kyle Beardsley highlights its long-term limitations. The result of this oft-superficial approach to peacemaking, immediate and reassuring as it may be, is often a fragile peace. With the intervention of a third-party mediator, warring parties may f...

**From the scholar who coined the term “soft power,” a bracing examination of what it means to lead in the digital age“Nye is a master of his field at the height of his powers.” —The Washington Post**Power evolves. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, unsurpassed in military strength and ownership of world resources, the United States was indisputably the most powerful nation in the world. But the information age is creating new opportunities for developin...

David Kilcullen is one of the world's most influential experts on counterinsurgency and modern warfare, a ground-breaking theorist whose ideas "are revolutionizing military thinking throughout the west" (Washington Post). Indeed, his vision of modern warfare powerfully influenced the United States' decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement "the Surge," now recognized as a dramatic success. In Counterinsurgency, Kilcullen brings together his most salient writings on th...

An approach to the challenges of globalism that rejects simplistic solutions, from "one of the most acute observers of the international economy" (Francis Fukuyama, New York Times-bestselling author of Identity).Deploying a novel mix of scientific evaluation and personal observation, Grzegorz W. Kolodko, one of the world's leading authorities on economics and development policy, begins Truth, Errors, and Lies with a brief discussion of mis...

The military expert and author of Leadership presents "the most thoughtful analysis yet of America's recent conflicts—and future challenges" (Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal).Why have the major post-9/11 US military interventions turned into quagmires? Despite huge power imbalances in America's favor, capacity-building efforts, and tactical victories, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq turned intractable. The US government's fixation on zero-sum, decisive victory...

The United States, Barry R. Posen argues in Restraint**, has grown incapable of moderating its ambitions in international politics.** Since the collapse of Soviet power, it has pursued a grand strategy that he calls "liberal hegemony," one that Posen sees as unnecessary, counterproductive, costly, and wasteful. Written for policymakers and observers alike, Restraint explains precisely why this grand strategy works poorly and then provides...

Since 1990, more than 10 million people have been killed in the civil wars of failed states, and hundreds of millions more have been deprived of fundamental rights. The threat of terrorism has only heightened the problem posed by failed states. When States Fail is the first book to examine how and why states decay and what, if anything, can be done to prevent them from collapsing. It defines and categorizes strong, weak, failing, and collapsed nation-states according to political,...

Combining decades of diplomacy and world-renowned scholarship, Inside the Situation Room bridges the gap between politics and academia to illuminate how world leaders make decisions in times of crisis. For decades, people have sought to understand how and why decisions are made in times of crisis, but very few get the opportunity to witness leaders' decision-making process. The result has been a persistent disconnect between the theory and the practice of decision-making. Now, a f...

This is a book on how to think - strategically - about foreign policy. Focusing on American foreign policy, this book discusses the national interest as a concept in strategic logic and describes how to select objectives that will take advantage of opportunities to promote interests, while protecting them against threats. It also discusses national power and influence, as well as the political, informational, economic, and military instruments of state power. Based on a graphic model that ...

Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making presents a psychological approach to foreign policy decision making. This approach focuses on the decision process, dynamics, and outcome. The book includes a wealth of extended real-world case studies and examples that are woven into the text. The cases and examples, which are written in an accessible style, include decisions made by leaders of the United States, Israel, New Zealand, Cuba, Iceland, United Kingdom, and others. In addition to cov...