Articles

Claims that drones will soon remake warfare or international politics are unwarranted. Although almost a dozen states now possess armed drones, and more are racing to acquire them, they will not play a decisive role in interstate conflicts. Drones will rarely be “winning weapons,” because they are vulnerable to air defenses. States will, however, continue to use drones against terrorists and domestic opponents.

Al-Qaida has established a metanarrative that enables it to recruit militants and supporters. The United States and its allies can challenge its ability to do so by delegitimizing the ideological motivations that inform that metanarrative.

Many academics and policymakers argue that the removal of leaders is an effective strategy in combating terrorism. Leadership decapitation is not always successful, however. A theory of organizational resilience explains why some terrorist organizations survive decapitation. Application of this theoretical model to the case of al-Qaida reveals that the deaths of Osama bin Laden and other high level al-Qaida operatives are unlikely to cause significant organizational decline.

William G. Nomikos responds to Alexander B. Downes and Jonathan Monten's Spring 2013 International Security article, "Forced to Be Free?: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Rarely Leads to Democratization."

When failed states are ruled by warlords, it impedes the development of stable and secure societies, thwarts economic growth, and threatens international security. The rise and fall of warlordism in Republican China and medieval Europe shows that states can eventually emerge and create successful governments. Warlords remain in power by monopolizing a weak state's limited resources. The international community's attempts to buy off the warlords in Somalia and Afghanistan thus have been particularly counterproductive. Instead, external actors should work with aggrieved citizen groups to motivate them to rise up and create stable, functioning central governments.