Since the end of the Cold War there have been many competing ideas about how to explain contemporary conflicts, and about how the West should respond to them. This study examines how the media interpret conflicts and international interventions, testing the sometimes contradictory claims that have been made about recent coverage of war. Framing post-Cold War conflicts takes a comparative approach, examining UK press coverage across six different crises. Through detailed analysis of news content, it seeks to identify the dominant themes in explaining the post-Cold War international order, and to discover how far the patterns established prior to 11 September 2001 have subsequently changed. Based on extensive original research, the book includes case studies of two ‘humanitarian military interventions’ (in Somalia and Kosovo), two instances where Western governments were condemned for not intervening enough (Bosnia and Rwanda), and the post-9/11 interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Several contributions in this volume focus on the modern Middle East, with other articles examining justifications for war, the return of war veterans, white nationalists, and the activities of the Moral Majority. Maria Markantonatou addresses the blurring of distinctions between civilians and combatants. Udi Lebel investigates how the IDF is being changed by the increasing number of religious-Zionists recruited. Orlee Hauser argues that the experiences of women in the IDF vary depending on their positions and assignments. Bruce McDonald compares the performance of the Feder-Ram and augmented Solow models in accounting for economic growth in Iran. Neema Noori examines the interrelationship of war, the state, and mobilization in Iran. Molly Clever examines the justifications for war employed by both state and non-state actors. Christina Knopf uses relational dialectics to examine US veteran transitions. David Bugg and Dianne Dentice analyze attitudes and perceptions of white nationalists. Finally, Aaron Davis considers the rise of the Illinois state chapter of the Moral Majority in the 1980s. This volume in the Political and Military Sociology series also includes reviews of important new books in civil-military relations, political science, and military sociology.

Mission Failure argues that, in the past 25 years, the U.S. military has turned to missions that are largely humanitarian and socio-political - and that this ideologically-driven foreign policy generally leads to failure.

Deterrence as a strategic concept evolved during the Cold War. During that period, deterrence strategy was aimed mainly at preventing aggression against the United States and its close allies by the hostile Communist power centers--the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its allies, Communist China and North Korea. In particular, the strategy was devised to prevent aggression involving nuclear attack by the USSR or China. Since the end of the Cold War, the risk of war among the major powers has subsided to the lowest point in modern history. Still, the changing nature of the threats to American and allied security interests has stimulated a considerable broadening of the deterrence concept. Post-Cold War Conflict Deterrence examines the meaning of deterrence in this new environment and identifies key elements of a post-Cold War deterrence strategy and the critical issues in devising such a strategy. It further examines the significance of these findings for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Quantitative and qualitative measures to support judgments about the potential success or failure of deterrence are identified. Such measures will bear on the suitability of the naval forces to meet the deterrence objectives. The capabilities of U.S. naval forces that especially bear on the deterrence objectives also are examined. Finally, the book examines the utility of models, games, and simulations as decision aids in improving the naval forces' understanding of situations in which deterrence must be used and in improving the potential success of deterrence actions.

Providing Peacekeepers analyzes the factors which encourage (or discourage) states from contributing their soldiers to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations. It focuses on the UN's experiences during the twenty-first century and does so through four thematic and sixteen case study chapters.

Fully revised and updated in its third edition, this timely book brings together the study of conflict and war and the problems surrounding the economic development of developing societies that are most prone to experiencing problems in moving on after war. The book does so by reflecting on the issues surrounding war as it unfolds and after it has (in principle) ‘ended’, within the context of the history, present-day problems and future prospects. The book aims to highlight the possibilities, successes and failures of past and present policies that bring ‘development’ to countries and peoples that want to be more involved in deciding their own futures after conflict and war, and often find themselves subject to what can be seen as arbitrary and even alien ways of thinking and acting by institutions in which they theoretically have membership and agency but often do not in practice. The case studies have been fully updated to reflect changes and developments since the second edition of this text, and there are questions at the end of each chapter to promote reflection. This new edition presents a deeper dive into the history of conflict and the emergence of new theories and policy guidance about present and future options in the fields of conflict and development. Accessible and engaging, this textbook is a pivotal resource for a nexus of subjects related to the often separated fields of conflict and development studies, as well as practitioners in this area.

Over the past decade, a new awareness of the relationship between conflicts and development has grown. Developmental factors can act as a trigger for violence, as well as for ending violence and for triggering post-conflict reconstruction. This book explores the complexity of the links between violent conflict (usually civil wars) and development, under-development and uneven development. It emphasizes the connections between stable developed economies and civil wars in other parts of the world, and examines how structural factors (such as the organization of the global economy) virtually condemn some regions to conflict and under-development. This valuable introductory text explains, reviews and critically evaluates this complex relationship. It focuses on intra-state conflicts and complex political emergencies that combine transnational and internal characteristics. Attention is also given to inter-state conflicts. Chapters emphasize how the relationship between conflict and development traverses many scales (macro, meso and micro) and dimensions (economic, political and cultural). Furthermore it explains how different developmental challenges and opportunities emerge along the full life-cycle of conflict. Specifically, the role of poverty, state, market, civil society, globalization, humanitarian aid, refuges, gender and health within conflict dynamics are examined. The book also investigates specific developmental issues emerging during conflict management and post conflict reconstruction. Both authors have a background in conducting research in deeply divided societies, and argue that many of the processes connected with war and peace making deliberately write people out of the equation. This book attempts to ‘write people in’. By drawing on contemporary theoretical debates and examining current policies and events, the text unpacks the difficult and complex aspects of the relationships between armed conflict and development and makes them accessible, interesting and policy relevant. It considers how peace making, peace building, and post-war reconstruction are usually more sustainable and successful if politicians, policy makers, entrepreneurs and those working for international NGOs take on board local opinion and capacity. Written in an accessible style, the book considers the main contemporary theories and arguments on conflict, development and the interactions between the two. The text is illuminated throughout with case studies drawn from Africa, the Balkans, Asia and the Middle East.