The Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program is one of the most pressing issues facing the United States today. All indications suggest that Iran is determined to be the next nuclear power as it continues to defy international will and resists international diplomatic pressure…
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This dissertation lays out the conditions under which acquiring nuclear weapons can "embolden" weak, dissatisfied states to do things they previously would not have done against stronger, nuclear-armed adversaries. It therefore specifies both the strategic benefits of acquisitio…
How can states deter wars between other states without choosing sides? When will they try? When will they succeed? States sometimes do try to deter both sides in a rivalry. I call them “pivot-states,” and the policy “pivotal deterrence.” Using a deductive model I first identify …
International relations theories often focus on the relationship between power and states' interests. The capabilities of a state reflect its level of power. When a state seeks to achieve a policy goal based on its security interests, the state considers the power relationship b…
Using the literature on persuasion and deterrence, this study assesses the effectiveness of U.S. economic and diplomatic efforts to prevent genocide in Sudan.
Deterrence theory predicts that an attack can be prevented if a defender communicates a clear, costly, and credible retaliatory threat that persuades an opponent that the costs of the attack outweigh possible benefits. While deterrence has received detailed treatment in inter-st…
My dissertation strives to understand the conditions under which peace operations in intra-state wars succeed or fail. I address two main questions: What is peace operation success, and what contributes to such an outcome? I define the success of a peace operation based on two d…
For the last decade, a growing body of research has sough to understand how classical deterrence methods could be adapted by states to establish asymmetric deterrence against non-state militant groups . Various strategies were suggested, but the research undertaken to date focus…
This thesis argues that deterrence based on conventional weapons is prone to failure. The unique characteristics associated with nuclear weapons, however, tend to provide for a robust deterrent. This argument is supported by four case studies (Berlin 1958, 1961; Taiwan Straits, …
Overseas kidnapping of citizens by nonstate actors is a significant problem for Western countries, a major source of resources for terrorist and criminal organizations, and a traumatic or life-ending event for victims and their families. In this work, I examine what is known abo…