Theoretical and empirical essays consider the pattern of violence in world politics.

Military occupation is a recurrent feature of modern international politics and yet has received little attention from political scientists. This book sets out to remedy this neglect, offering:* an account of military occupation as a form of government* an assessment of key trends in the development of military occupations over the last two centuries* an explanation the conceptual and practical difficulties encountered by occupiers* examples drawn from, amongst others, the First and Second World Wars, US occupations in Latin America and Japan, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, and the current occupation of IraqAfter a survey of the evolving practice and meaning of military occupation the book deals with its contested definitions, challenging restrictive approaches that disguise the true extent of the incidence of military occupation. Subsequent chapters explain the diverse forms that military government within occupation regimes take on and the role of civilian governors and agencies within occupation regimes; the significance of military occupation for our understanding of political obligation; the concept of sovereignty; the nature and meaning of justice; and our evaluation of regime transformation under conditions of military occupation.

What changes in China's modern military policy reveal about military organizations and strategySince the 1949 Communist Revolution, China has devised nine different military strategies, which the People's Liberation Army (PLA) calls "strategic guidelines." What accounts for these numerous changes? Active Defense offers the first systematic look at China's military strategy from the mid-twentieth century to today. Exploring the range and intensity of threats that China has faced, M. Taylor Fravel illuminates the nation's past and present military goals and how China sought to achieve them, and offers a rich set of cases for deepening the study of change in military organizations.Drawing from diverse Chinese-language sources, including memoirs of leading generals, military histories, and document collections that have become available only in the last two decades, Fravel shows why transformations in military strategy were pursued at certain times and not others. He focuses on the military strategies adopted in 1956, 1980, and 1993-when the PLA was attempting to wage war in a new kind of way-to show that China has pursued major change in its strategic guidelines when there has been a significant shift in the conduct of warfare in the international system and when China's Communist Party has been united.Delving into the security threats China has faced over the last seven decades, Active Defense offers a detailed investigation into how and why states alter their defense policies.

The latest volume of the Political and Military Sociology annual review features empirical research on topics that focus on security, military training, culture, and the challenges of bureaucracy, law, and violence in democracies. The articles cover an impressive geographic range from Europe to Africa and to the Middle East.Two essays address threats to democratic polities by corrupt governmental and legal institutions and by electoral violence and intimidation. The first argues that a culture of "dualism" in Greece helps produce problems. The second analyzes the power of military student fraternities in Nigeria, arguing that democracy is threatened by these organizations.Two contributors then address the security and military challenges in Iraq. The first argues that successful military advisors must play dual roles as both peacekeeper-diplomats and warriors. The second poses that Iraqi government policies privileging the Shia population have alienated other groups and helped support for groups such as ISIS. The final essay analyzes the acculturation of new soldiers to Zimbabwean military life through the training experiences of recruits.The volume also includes reviews of recent books on military and security matters.

In war, do mass and materiel matter most? Will states with the largest, best equipped, information-technology-rich militaries invariably win? The prevailing answer today among both scholars and policymakers is yes. But this is to overlook force employment, or the doctrine and tactics by which materiel is actually used. In a landmark reconception of battle and war, this book provides a systematic account of how force employment interacts with materiel to produce real combat outcomes. Stephen Biddle argues that force employment is central to modern war, becoming increasingly important since 1900 as the key to surviving ever more lethal weaponry. Technological change produces opposite effects depending on how forces are employed; to focus only on materiel is thus to risk major error--with serious consequences for both policy and scholarship. In clear, fluent prose, Biddle provides a systematic account of force employment's role and shows how this account holds up under rigorous, multimethod testing. The results challenge a wide variety of standard views, from current expectations for a revolution in military affairs to mainstream scholarship in international relations and orthodox interpretations of modern military history. Military Power will have a resounding impact on both scholarship in the field and on policy debates over the future of warfare, the size of the military, and the makeup of the defense budget.