In Plain Sight In Plain Sight Valerie M. Hudson The Neglected Linkage between Brideprice and Violent Conºict and Hilary Matfess Strapped to a gurney and visibly shaken by the bloodied bodies of his fellow terrorists strewn about, Mohammed Jamal Amir Kasab, aged twenty-one, begged his police interroga- tors to turn off their cameras. They refused, and Kasab’s recorded confession provided the world with a glimpse

Iran-Iraq War and the Nuclear Deal What the Iran-Iraq War Tells Us about the Future of the Iran Nuclear Deal Ariane M. Tabatabai and Annie Tracy Samuel It is a truism that the 1979 Islamic Revolution transformed Iran and its place in the world. For the United States, the revolution swept away a reliable partner and replaced it with a regime long considered a “mystery”

Rule of Law in Afghanistan Why U.S. Efforts to Promote the Rule of Law in Afghanistan Failed Geoffrey Swenson Upon assuming ofªce in January 2009, President Barack Obama demanded a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Afghanistan. Government corruption and lawlessness were fueling the Taliban insurgency. State courts sought rents rather than justice. Obama promised a new approach to halt the steadily deteriorating security sit-

Revisiting Hiroshima in Iran Revisiting Hiroshima in Iran What Americans Really Think about Using Nuclear Weapons and Killing Noncombatants Scott D. Sagan and Benjamin A. Valentino In August 1945, 85 par- cent of the U.S. public told pollsters that they approved of President Harry Truman’s decision to drop two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.1 In the more than seven decades since that time, cependant,

The New Era of Counterforce The New Era of Counterforce Technological Change and the Future of Nuclear Deterrence Keir A. Lieber and Daryl G. Press Nuclear deterrence is based on the threat of retaliation. A nuclear arsenal designed for deterrence must, donc, be able to survive an enemy ªrst strike and still inºict unac- ceptable damage on the attacker. For most of the nuclear age,

Deterrence and Dissuasion in Cyberspace Deterrence and Dissuasion in Cyberspace Joseph S. Nye Jr. Can countries deter or dissuade others from doing them harm in cyberspace? In the words of former Estonian President Toomas Ilves, “The biggest problem in cyber remains deter- rence. We have been talking about the need to deal with it within NATO for years now.”1 Since the turn of this century,

The Debate over Drone Proliferation Separating Fact from Fiction in the Debate over Drone Proliferation Michael C. Horowitz, Sarah E. Kreps, and Matthew Fuhrmann In the last decade and a half, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), “drones,” has become commonplace.1 In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States launched its ªrst armed drone strike in Afghanistan in that

Future Warfare in the Western Paciªc Future Warfare in the Western Paciªc Chinese Antiaccess/Area Denial, U.S. AirSea Battle, and Command of the Commons in East Asia Stephen Biddle and Ivan Oelrich The United States has long enjoyed what Barry Posen has termed “command of the commons”: worldwide freedom of movement on and under the seas and in the air above 15,000 pieds, with the ability

Deal or No Deal? Deal or No Deal? The End of the Cold War and the U.S. Offer to Limit NATO Expansion Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson During the negotia- tions on German reuniªcation in 1990, did the United States promise the Soviet Union that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would not expand into Eastern Europe? The answer depends on who is being asked. Russian

Great Powers in the 21st Century The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers in the Twenty-ªrst Century China’s Rise and the Fate of America’s Global Position Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth Unipolarity is argu- ably the most popular concept analysts use to assess the U.S. position in the in- ternational system that emerged in the wake of the demise of the Soviet

Strategies of Inhibition Strategies of Inhibition Francis J. Gavin U.S. Grand Strategy, the Nuclear Revolution, and Nonproliferation What roles have nu- clear nonproliferation and counterproliferation played in U.S. grand strat- egy since 1945?1 And what insights does this history provide into the sharp, contemporary debates over the past, présent, and future trajectory of U.S. grand strategy? Most accounts of postwar U.S. grand strategy focus on

The Myth of Entangling Alliances The Myth of Entangling Alliances Reassessing the Security Risks of U.S. Defense Pacts Michael Beckley For the ªrst 165 years of its history, the United States did not form any alliances besides the one it signed with France during the Revolutionary War. Plutôt, U.S. leaders fol- lowed George Washington’s advice to “steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of

The Strategic Logic of Nuclear Proliferation The Strategic Logic of Nuclear Proliferation Nuno P. Monteiro and Alexandre Debs What causes nuclear proliferation?1 What role do security threats play in driving states to acquire nuclear weapons? Intuitively, security is the most important factor driving nu- clear acquisition.2 Yet existing security theories of proliferation, while account- ing for why some states with grave security concerns have developed

Racing toward Tragedy? Racing toward Tragedy? China’s Rise, Military Competition in the Asia Paciªc, and the Security Dilemma Adam P. Liff and G. John Ikenberry Throughout the post– Cold War period, scholars and policymakers have widely considered the Asia Paciªc “ripe for rivalry” and at risk of intensifying military competition.1 De- velopments over the past decade have deepened these expectations. A chang- ing distribution of

Pakistan’s Forgotten Genocide—A Review Essay Pakistan’s Forgotten Genocide— A Review Essay Sumit Ganguly Gary J. Bass, The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013) Gary Bass’s The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide constitutes a vital contribu- tion toward explaining the genocide of Bengalis in East Pakistan in 1971 and the U.S. role in the crisis.1

Attacking the Leader, Missing the Mark Attacking the Leader, Missing the Mark Why Terrorist Groups Survive Decapitation Strikes Jenna Jordan Does leadership de- capitation lead to the demise of terrorist organizations? Can the United States undermine or destroy terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida by arresting or killing their leaders? What explains organizational resilience to leadership tar- geting? Leadership decapitation, or the killing or capturing of

Grounds for War Grounds for War Dominic D.P. Johnson The Evolution of Territorial Conºict and Monica Duffy Toft The Badme region in the Horn of Africa is claimed by both Ethiopia and Eritrea. It contains few natural resources, and neither state considers it to have strategic value. As one local merchant put it, cependant, “It’s territory, you know. We’ll die for our country.”1 Throughout history,

The Structure of Success The Structure of Success How the Internal Distribution of Power Drives Armed Group Behavior and National Movement Effectiveness Peter Krause When do national movements succeed? Speciªcally, when and why does the use of violence by armed groups within such movements help to achieve their strategic objec- tives, such as international recognition, territorial control, and the creation of new states? Two recent