Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

Entangling Alliances? Assessing the Security Risks of America's Defense Pacts

Open to the Public

A large literature on U.S. foreign policy takes for granted that America's alliances entangle the United States into military conflicts that it might otherwise avoid.  Yet proponents of this argument have presented very little evidence that this entanglement mechanism has actually played a significant role in U.S. foreign policy. The speaker looks for such evidence in all post-1945 U.S. military conflicts and finds hardly any.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Young boys celebrate the proclamation of independence of Kosovo with U.S. and NATO flags in Mother Teresa Square in Pristina, Feb. 17, 2008.

About

A large literature on U.S. foreign policy takes for granted that America's alliances entangle the United States into military conflicts that it might otherwise avoid. Yet proponents of this argument have presented very little evidence that this entanglement mechanism has actually played a significant role in U.S. foreign policy. The speaker looks for such evidence in all post-1945 U.S. military conflicts and finds hardly any. U.S. entanglement is rare, he argues, because (1) the United States, as a superpower, is capable of flouting its commitments with relative impunity, (2) U.S. alliance agreements are vague and contingent commitments, and (3) these alliances help the United States deter potential aggressors and restrain allies from initiating or escalating conflicts that might threaten U.S. interests.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.