The Military-political Linkage in Coalition Warfare

The Military-political Linkage in Coalition Warfare
Author: Thomas Schmidt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 45
Release: 1988
Genre: Korean War, 1950-1953
ISBN:

This monograph examines the linkage between military operations and political goals in the setting of coalition warfare. The next war for the US Army is likely to be fought for limited ends, with limited resources and limited freedom of action. The military commander must be able to plan operations which support the nation's political aims. He must further do so with the scarce resources made available to him and within the restraints placed upon his freedom of action by political decisionmakers. At the same time he must be able to reconcile US goals with those of the other member(s) of the coalition within which the US is fighting. The Korean War provides an excellent vehicle for examining the military-political relationships as well as the friction caused by differences within an alliance. The monograph begin by tracing the evolution of US strategy and foreign policy to determine US reasons for entering the war. It then examines the war in four phases. In each phase South Korea and US political goals are compared, military operations reviewed, and a determination made as to whether military operations supported the political objectives of that phase. This methodology leads to the conclusion that the failure of the military, notably MacArthur, to understand and/or accept the concept of limited war and the restraints it entails unnecessarily widened and prolonged the war. (KR).

Building Military Coalitions

Building Military Coalitions
Author: Jennifer Kavanagh
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781977406569

The decision to use a military intervention to achieve a political goal is inherently risky. To offset some of these risks, slates sometimes seek to build coalitions made up of partner states that have similar objectives. This report uses quantitative analysis and a series of qualitative case studies to identify and describe factors that seem to be associated with U.S. decisions to use coalitions for military interventions, factors that drive partner slates to join such coalitions, and factors that shape the success of military coalitions. The findings indicate that the United States relies on coalitions when operational demands are high and to build international legitimacy for military action. Partner states are most likely to join U.S. coalitions when they have close ties with me United States, when the precipitating crisis is in their home region, when they seek to advance their international standing, and when the coalition has support from an intergovernmental organization. As the United States faces more significant threats from near peer competitors, it may need to rely on partners more heavily and can leverage the insights in this report to construct strong and durable coalitions. Book jacket.

The Military and Democracy in Indonesia

The Military and Democracy in Indonesia
Author: Angel Rabasa
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2002-12-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0833034022

The military is one of the few institutions that cut across the divides of Indonesian society. As it continues to play a critical part in determining Indonesia's future, the military itself is undergoing profound change. The authors of this book examine the role of the military in politics and society since the fall of President Suharto in 1998. They present several strategic scenarios for Indonesia, which have important implications for U.S.-Indonesian relations, and propose goals for Indonesian military reform and elements of a U.S. engagement policy.

The Politics of Military Coalitions

The Politics of Military Coalitions
Author: Scott Wolford
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2015-09-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1316368815

Military coalitions are ubiquitous. The United States builds them regularly, yet they are associated with the largest, most destructive, and consequential wars in history. When do states build them, and what partners do they choose? Are coalitions a recipe for war, or can they facilitate peace? Finally, when do coalitions affect the expansion of conflict beyond its original participants? The Politics of Military Coalitions introduces newly collected data designed to answer these very questions, showing that coalitions - expensive to build but attractive from a military standpoint - are very often more (if sometimes less) than the sum of their parts, at times encouraging war while discouraging it at others, at times touching off wider wars while at others keeping their targets isolated. The combination of new data, new formal theories, and new quantitative analysis will be of interest to scholars, students, and policymakers alike.

Understanding Battlefield Coalitions

Understanding Battlefield Coalitions
Author: Rosella Cappella Zielinski
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2023-09-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000953475

This book improves our understanding of battlefield coalitions, providing novel theoretical and empirical insight into their nature and capabilities, as well as the military and political consequences of their combat operations. The volume provides the first dataset of battlefield coalitions, uses primary sources to understand how non-state actors of varying types form such groupings, reports interviews with policymakers illuminating North Atlantic Treaty Organization operations, and uses cases studies of various wars waged throughout the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries to understand how other such collectives have operated. Part I introduces battlefield coalitions as an object of study, demonstrating how they are distinct from other wartime collectives. Using a novel dataset of actors fighting in 492 battles during interstate wars waged between 1900 and 2003, it provides, for the first time, a comprehensive portrait of the universe of battlefield coalitions. Part II explores processes and dynamics involved in the formation of battlefield coalitions, addressing how potential coalition members prepare for future battles in peacetime (as well as the consequences of such preparations) and the dynamics of mission design. Part III focuses on how battlefield coalitions are organised and fight when combat ensues, notably their decision-making rules and practices, command structures, and learning capacities. Part IV addresses three curious tendencies observed in the operations of battlefield coalitions: partners under-providing effort in combat, rebels and terrorist networks persisting in cooperation even when their interests diverge, and members defecting from the collective. Part V concludes with a chapter outlining for future researchers what we know about battlefield coalitions and what remains to be understood. This book will be of much interest to students of military and strategic studies, defence studies and International Relations.

Coalition Warfare

Coalition Warfare
Author: Kjeld Hald Galster
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2013-07-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1443850160

It is unquestionable that the warfare of various post-Cold War 'coalitions-of-the-willing' has drawn much attention over recent years. However, we may also notice that associations of nations fighting, or preparing to fight, for common causes are no novelty. Multi-national co-operation in fields as costly and as fateful as war depends on considerations and caveats concerning political purpose, risks, mutual trust, national wealth and pride, compatibility of military forces and a glut of inta ...