Journal Article - Quarterly Journal: International Security

What Allies Want: Reconsidering Loyalty, Reliability, and Alliance Interdependence

    Author:
  • Iain D. Henry
| Spring 2020

Summary

Leaders often believe that states that demonstrate disloyalty toward an ally will acquire a reputation for disloyalty, and thus damage other alliances. But in some circumstances, excessive loyalty to one ally can damage—perhaps even destroy—other alliances.  The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (1954–55) shows that alliance interdependence is governed not by a reputation for loyalty, but by assessments of allied reliability.

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation:

Iain D. Henry, "What Allies Want: Reconsidering Loyalty, Reliability, and Alliance Interdependence," International Security, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Spring 2020), pp. 45-83.

The Author

Iain D. Henry

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