International Security Journal Highlights

Vol. 45 No. 4, Spring 2021

Featured in the Belfer Center Spring 2021 Newsletter »

Note: As a courtesy to the Belfer Center, MIT Press has made this issue of the journal International Security temporarily available without subscription. The articles on this page can be read on the MIT Press website.

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“Illusions of Autonomy: Why Europe Cannot Provide for Its Security If the United States Pulls Back”

By Hugo Meijer and Stephen G. Brooks

If the United States were to withdraw from Europe, any European effort to develop an autonomous defense capacity would be fundamentally hampered by profoundly diverging threat perceptions and severe military capacity shortfalls that would be very costly and time-consuming to close.

“The Case for Campaign Analysis: A Method for Studying Military Operations”

By Rachel Tecott and Andrew Halterman

Military operations lie at the center of international relations theory and practice. Campaign analysis is a method involving the use of a model and techniques for managing uncertainty to answer questions about military operations and consists of six standard steps.

International Security: Off the Page

Off the Page brings policymakers, academics, and practitioners into conversation about security issues of global importance. In each episode, we discuss recently-published research in International Security and go beyond each article’s findings to examine ongoing, real-world issues. As such, we’ll be going “off the page” and into the heart of contemporary policy debate. 

Subscribe to IS: Off the Page on Apple Podcasts

“Water and Warfare: The Evolution and Operation of the Water Taboo”

By Charlotte Grech-Madin

Since the end of World War II, nation-states in international conflict have made concerted efforts to restrain the weaponization of water. Distinct from realist and rationalist explanations, the historical record reveals the rise of an international normative inhibition—a “water taboo”—on using water as a weapon.

“The Rule of Law and the Role of Strategy in U.S. Nuclear Doctrine”

By Scott D. Sagan and Allen S. Weiner

When properly applied, the key principles of the law of armed conflict have a profound impact on U.S. nuclear doctrine. Specifically, it would be unlawful for the United States to intentionally target civilians, even in reprisal for a strike against U.S. or allied civilians.

“Why Rebels Stop Fighting: Organizational Decline and Desertion in Colombia's Insurgency”

By Enzo Nussio and Juan E. Ugarriza

Analysis of unique data on more than 19,000 reported deserters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) reveals that organizational decline undermines a group’s instruments to promote collective action—including selective incentives, ideological appeal, and coercion—and leads to desertion.

Highlights compiled by International Security Journal staff

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