Scholar
Davy Crockett and the Boy Scouts: The Korean War and Mismanaging Protracted Conflict
The specter of protracted large-scale ground combat has grown more real in the wake of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. As the United States and its partners debate the best way to prepare for such a conflict, it would be wise to review the experience of the…
Bringing Politics Back In: The Neglected Explanation of the Oct. 7 Surprise Attack
Civil-military relations are a neglected dimension in the explanation of surprise. I integrate the worldviews and political priorities of civilian leaders with the psychological processes and organizational pathologies within the military and intelligence…
Filling the Void Left by Great-Power Retrenchment: Russia, Central Asia, and the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending in August 2021, created favorable conditions for Russia to reassert itself as a regional hegemon in broader Central Asia. Historically, as great powers retrench from a territory, the resulting void can be filled…
Cyber Effects in Warfare: Categorizing the Where, What, and Why
For decades, military practitioners and academics have come up with theories, evidence, and examples that indicate that offensive cyber operations might revolutionize modern warfare. Others have made an equally impressive case that refutes that such operations…
Access Denied? Non-Aligned State Decisions to Grant Access During War
Access decisions play a crucial role in war, with belligerent states employing various methods to gain access into neutral states. Yet, the decision-making process of potential host nations has largely been unexplored for modern, large-scale conflicts. This…
Stuck Onshore: Why the United States Failed to Retrench from Europe during the Early Cold War
A growing number of scholars and policymakers are showing interest in a grand strategy that calls on the United States to retrench from key global regions while devolving the burden of checking the expansion of hegemonic aspirants to local allies. I highlight…
Just Do It: Explaining the Characteristics and Rationale of Chinese Economic Sanctions
While most economic sanctions are explicitly announced, Chinese economic sanctions tend to be vague — not explicitly announced. China rarely threatens sanctions — instead, it directly executes them. What explains these vague and executed Chinese sanctions?…
Estimating China’s Defense Spending: How to Get It Wrong (and Right)
China’s defense spending is opaque, and China spends more on defense than its official 2024 defense budget of 1.67 trillion yuan ($232 billion) indicates. Some analysts claim China’s defense spending is equivalent to $700 billion, approaching the level of…
Franklin D. Roosevelt, World War II, and the Reality of Constitutional Statesmanship
Is statesmanship compatible with constitutional government? Scholars have posited the possibility of “constitutional statesmanship” in America but have done little to probe its historical reality or to evaluate its consequences. To illustrate some of the…
From Panic to Policy: The Limits of Foreign Propaganda and the Foundations of an Effective Response
American leaders and scholars have long feared the prospect that hostile foreign powers could subvert democracy by spreading false, misleading, and inflammatory information by using various media. Drawing on both historical experience and empirical literature,…
Climate Change and Military Power: Hunting for Submarines in the Warming Ocean
Climate change will have significant effects on military power, capabilities, effectiveness, and employment. Yet, scholars have paid little attention to this topic. We address this gap by investigating the effects of changing ocean conditions on anti-submarine…
Speaking Out: Why Retired Flag Officers Participate in Political Discourse
Recent years have seen retired general and flag officers make a variety of political statements and campaign endorsements, sparking enormous controversy and debate among scholars about the fate of the military’s norm of nonpartisanship. Despite this, we have…