International Security Journal Highlights

Vol. 46, No. 2, Fall 2021

Featured in the Fall 2021 Newsletter »

The following articles are available in the Fall 2021 issue of the journal International Security.

As a courtesy to the Belfer Center, MIT Press has made this issue of International Security available until December 23 without subscription. The articles on this page can be read on MIT Press Direct.

“Caught Red-Handed: How States Wield Proof to Coerce Wrongdoers”

By Cullen G. Nutt and Reid B.C. Pauly

States that catch other states violating norms wield coercive power over the wrongdoers. A novel theory explains how states choose between either concealing, privately sharing, or revealing proof of guilt.

“The Subversive Trilemma: Why Cyber Operations Fall Short of Expectations”

By Lennart Maschmeyer

The subversive trilemma of cyber operations—whereby speed, intensity, and control are negatively correlated—explains why these operations tend to fall short of their promise in both warfare and low-intensity competition.

“Arms Control as Wedge Strategy: How Arms Limitation Deals Divide Alliances”

By Timothy W. Crawford and Khang X. Vu

Wedge strategy theory explains how states use strategic arms control to divide adversaries by affecting their perceptions of potential threats, beliefs about the costs and benefits of formal commitments, and trust in each other.

“Opportunistic Repression: Civilian Targeting by the State in Response to COVID-19”

By Donald Grasse, Melissa Pavlik, Hilary Matfess, and Travis B. Curtice

Opportunistic repression arises when states exploit crises to suppress the political opposition. An examination of the relationship between COVID-19 shutdown policies and state violence against civilians in Africa tests this theory.

Correspondence: “Are Belligerent Reprisals against Civilians Legal?”

Christopher Ford, John Harvey, Franklin Miller, Keith Payne, and Bradley Roberts respond to Scott Sagan and Allen Weiner’s spring 2021 article, “The Rule of Law and the Role of Strategy in U.S. Nuclear Doctrine.”

Highlights compiled by International Security Journal staff