CIAO DATE: 12/2013
Volume: 38, Issue: 2
Fall 2013
"The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution: Perils to Theory and Statecraft" (PDF)
Lucas Kello
While decisionmakers warn about the cyber threat constantly, there is little systematic analysis of the issue from an international security studies perspective. Cyberweapons are expanding the range of possible harm between the concepts of war and peace, and give rise to enormous defense complications and dangers to strategic stability. It is detrimental to the intellectual progress and policy relevance of the security studies field to continue to avoid the cyber revolution's central questions.
"The Myth of Cyberwar: Bringing War in Cyberspace Back Down to Earth" (PDF)
Erik Gartzke
Cyberwar has been described as a revolution in military affairs capable of overturning the prevailing world order. By itself, however, cyberwar can achieve neither conquest nor, in most cases, coercion. Conflict over the internet is much more likely to serve as an adjunct to, rather than a substitute for, existing modes of terrestrial force, and to augment the advantages of status quo powers rather than threatening existing political hierarchies.
"Legitimating Power: The Domestic Politics of U.S. International Hierarchy" (PDF)
David A. Lake
An examination of U.S. indirect rule over Europe and Central America during the past century suggests that international hierarchy is compatible with democracy and rendered legitimate only when it creates large gains or when subordinate societies share policy preferences similar to those of the United States. In the contemporary Middle East, these conditions are absent, implying that the United States is better off retrenching "East of Suez."
"How Oil Influences U.S. National Security" (PDF)
Charles Glaser
U.S. scholars and policymakers commonly worry that a lack of "energy security" hurts U.S. national security, yet few have analyzed the links between states' energy requirements and the probability of military conflict. An investigation of these links identifies threats to U.S. national security flowing from other countries' consumption of oil, rather than just U.S. consumption. Furthermore, while many of the security threats associated with Persian Gulf oil have decreased, new oil-driven dangers are emerging in Northeast Asia.
"Fueling the Fire: Pathways from Oil to War" (PDF)
Jeff D. Colgan
While the threat of "resource wars" over possession of oil reserves is often exaggerated, between one-quarter and one-half of interstate wars since 1973 have been connected to one or more of eight distinct oil-related causal mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms can help policymakers design grand strategy and allocate military resources.
"Correspondence: Debating American Engagement: The Future of U.S. Grand Strategy" (PDF)
Benjamin H. Friedman, Justin Logan, Campbell Craig, Brendan Rittenhouse Greenspan, Stephen Brooks, G. John Inkenberry, William Wohlforth
Campbell Craig and Benjamin H. Friedman, Brendan Rittenhouse Green, and Justin Logan respond to Stephen G. Brooks, G. John Ikenberry, and William C. Wohlforth's Winter 2012/2013 International Security article, "Don't Come Home, America: The Case against Retrenchment."
"Correspondence: Reconsidering the Cases of Humanitarian Intervention" (PDF)
Alex Bellamy, Robert Pape
Alex J. Bellamy responds to Robert A. Pape's Spring 2013 International Security correspondence, "Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect."