Power and military effectiveness : the fallacy of democratic triumphalism / Michael C. Desch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Desch, Michael C. (Michael Charles), 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strategy.

Democracy.

War.

Military readiness.

United States--Military policy.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (245 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since 1815 democratic states have emerged victorious from most wars, leading many scholars to conclude that democracies are better equipped to triumph in armed conflict with autocratic and other non-representative governments.Political scientist Michael C. Desch argues that the evidence and logic of that supposition, which he terms “democratic triumphalism,” are as flawed as the arguments for the long-held and opposite belief that democracies are inherently disadvantaged in international relations. Through comprehensive statistical analysis, a thorough review of two millennia of international relations thought, and in-depth case studies of modern-era military conflicts, Desch finds that the problems that persist in prosecuting wars―from building up and maintaining public support to holding the military and foreign policy elites in check―remain constant regardless of any given state’s form of government. In assessing the record, he finds that military effectiveness is almost wholly reliant on the material assets that a state possesses and is able to mobilize.Power and Military Effectiveness is an instructive reassessment of the increasingly popular belief that military success is one of democracy’s many virtues. International relations scholars, policy makers, and military minds will be well served by its lessons.Read less

Contents:

Democracy and victory : why democracy is not a liability

Democracy and victory : why regime type hardly matters

Democracy and the Russo-Polish War

Democracy and Israel's military effectiveness

Democracy and Britain's victory in the Falklands War

Conclusions : If not democracy, then what?

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [185]-225) and index.

ISBN:

0-8018-9683-5

OCLC:

923194223