Choosing your battles : American civil-military relations and the use of force
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Choosing your battles : American civil-military relations and the use of force
Princeton University Press, 2005
- : pbk
- Other Title
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Choosing your battles : American civil-military relations and the use of force : with a new afterword by the authors
Note
Previous ed.: 2004
Second printing, and first paperback printing, with a new afterword, 2005
References: p. [215]-228
Index: p. [243]-250
Description and Table of Contents
Description
America's debate over whether and how to invade Iraq clustered into civilian versus military camps. Top military officials appeared reluctant to use force, the most hawkish voices in government were civilians who had not served in uniform, and everyone was worried that the American public would not tolerate casualties in war. This book shows that this civilian-military argument--which has characterized earlier debates over Bosnia, Somalia, and Kosovo--is typical, not exceptional. Indeed, the underlying pattern has shaped U.S. foreign policy at least since 1816. The new afterword by Peter Feaver and Christopher Gelpi traces these themes through the first two years of the current Iraq war, showing how civil-military debates and concerns about sensitivity to casualties continue to shape American foreign policy in profound ways.
Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vii PREFACE xi CHAPTER ONE Introduction 1 CHAPTER TWO The Civil-Military Opinion Gap over the Use of Force 21 CHAPTER THREE The Impact of Elite Veterans on American Decisions to Use Force 64 CHAPTER FOUR Casualty Sensitivity and Civil-Military Relations 95 CHAPTER FIVE Exploring the Determinants of Casualty Sensitivity 149 CHAPTER SIX Conclusion 184 REFERENCES 215 NAME INDEX 229 SUBJECT INDEX 233
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