United We Stand? : Divide-and-Conquer Politics and the Logic of International Hostility

by Belkin, Aaron

• ISBN13: 9780791463437
• ISBN10: 0791463435
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-02-03
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

It has long been assumed that leaders engage in international conflict to unify their followers--" what is often called the "rally' round the flag" hypothesis. Despite its intuitive appeal, however, this hypothesis does not always provide a compelling explanation of the relationship between domestic politics and international conflict. In "United We Stand? Aaron Belkin shows that in one important realm, civil-military relations, leaders often prefer divisiveness over cohesion. When they feel domestically vulnerable, leaders use international conflict in order to create and exacerbate rivalries among their own military forces to lower the risk of a coup and to contribute to the consolidation and stability of the political order. Case studies include post-Soviet Georgia and Syria. "Belkin addresses an underexplained source of international conflict and does a persuasive job of turning widely accepted truisms on their heads. His basic argument is important, cleary presented, and well supported." --"Paul N. Stockton, coeditor of "Reconstituting America's Defense: The New U.S. National Security Strategy

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. Regime Vulnerability and International Conflict	3	(14)
PART TWO: THEORY
2. Coup Risk and Military Division: Hostility within the Armed Forces and Regime Survival	17	(18)
3. A Theory of Counterbalancing as a Cause of International Conflict	35	(20)
PART THREE: DATA
4. Regime Vulnerability, Counterbalancing, and International Conflict during the Cold War: A Quantitative Analysis
Aaron Belkin and Evan Schofer	55	(14)
5. Regime Vulnerability as a Cause of Counterbalancing in Syria in the Early 1970's	69	(32)
6. When Dividing the Military Provides an Incentive for Conflict: Fragmented Military Forces and International Conflict in Shevardnadze's Georgia	101	(14)
7. Conclusion	115	(8)
Notes	123	(8)
References	131	(26)
Index	157	(2)
Suny Series in Global Politics	159