Focus on Winter 2015-16 International Security Journal

A Sampling of articles in the Winter 2015-16 issue of the Belfer Center journal International Security.

International Security is America’s leading journal of security affairs. IS was ranked first in impact factor for 2014 among 85 journals of international relations in the annual “Journal Citation Reports”® released by Thomson Reuters. International Security’s 2014 Impact Factor is the highest of any international relations journals.

United They Fall: Why the International Community Should Not Promote Military Integration after Civil War

Ronald R. Krebs and Roy Licklider

Many international peacebuilders have suggested that integrating opposing combatants into a national military after civil war helps prevent conflict from recurring. Analysis of eleven cases of post–civil war military integration, however, reveals that underlying political conditions, not military integration, determine whether peace endures.

Trade Expectations and Great Power Conflict—A Review Essay

Jack Snyder

Does economic interdependence promote peace or war between states? In Economic Interdependence and War, Dale Copeland argues that the answer depends on states’ expectations regarding future trade and whether interdependence will benefit them or make them vulnerable.

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers in the Twenty-first Century: China’s Rise and the Fate of America’s Global Position

Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth

China will not soon displace the United States as the international system’s superpower. Unlike previous rising powers challenging leading states, China’s technological and military capabilities are much lower relative to those of the United States. Further, converting economic power into military might is far more difficult than it was in the past.

Breaker of Armies: Air Power in the Easter Offensive and the Myth of Linebacker I and II in the Vietnam War

Phil Haun and Colin Jackson

Contrary to conventional accounts, the United States’ 1972 Linebacker I and II deep air interdiction campaigns were not crucial to stopping the North Vietnamese Army’s Easter Offensive or convincing North Vietnam to sign the Paris peace accords. Instead, U.S. close air support and battlefield air interdiction played key roles in achieving these outcomes.

Is the Taiwan Strait Still a Flash Point? Rethinking the Prospects for Armed Conflict between China and Taiwan

Scott L. Kastner

Since 2008, tensions between China and Taiwan have decreased significantly. Will the risk of cross-strait conflict remain low? There are reasons for optimism: economic ties between the two states are increasing; China’s growing military strength is still offset by the U.S. commitment to Taiwan; and Taiwanese remain pragmatic regarding Taiwan’s sovereignty.

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