Joshua Itzkowitz Shifrinson argues that, during the 1990 negotiations over German reunification, the United States made the Soviet Union an informal pledge not to expand NATO.

Taylor Fravel discusses whether China will abandon its long-standing nuclear strategy of assured retaliation for a first-use posture.

Francis Gavin describes the central role that nonproliferation has played in U.S. grand strategy over the past several decades.

Aisha Ahmad shows how the local business community helped Islamists gain power during the Somali civil war.

Mark Bell discusses how acquiring nuclear weapons affects states' foreign policy.

Gene Gerzhoy discusses how a powerful state can prevent a weaker ally from acquiring nuclear weapons.

As Michael Beckley reveals, the United States' alliance commitments draw it into conflict far less often than many assume.

International Security, the quarterly journal edited at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center and published by The MIT Press, ranked first for Impact Factor in 2014 among eighty-five journals of international relations ranked in the Journal Citation Reports® released this month by Thomson Reuters. Other leading journals in this global category of rankings include the Journal of Peace Research, International Organization, World Politics, and Foreign Affairs.

"...[P]lagiarism is fundamentally wrong. Scholars' careers largely depend on receiving credit for their research and publications. Tenure and promotion decisions may hinge on how often a professor's books or articles are cited. So academics are understandably sensitive to the possibility that someone else will claim credit for their research. Students who plagiarize in their research papers may not damage the careers of the scholars they plagiarize, but they are cheating and should be held accountable."

Peter Krause describes how the internal structure of violent and nonviolent national movements is the key to understanding their success--or failure.