Overview

What qualities make an ally useful in coalition warfare, and when is an ally more trouble than it’s worth? Allies That Count analyzes the utility of junior partners in coalition warfare and reaches surprising conclusions. In this volume, Olivier Schmitt presents detailed case-study analysis of several US allies in the Gulf War, the Kosovo campaign, the Iraq War, and the war in Afghanistan. He also includes a broader comparative analysis of 204 junior partners in various interventions since the end of the Cold War. This analysis bridges a gap in previous studies about coalition warfare, while also contributing to policy debates about a recurring defense dilemma. Previous works about coalition warfare have focused on explaining how coalitions are formed, but little attention has been given to the issue of their effectiveness. Simultaneously, policy debates, have framed the issue of junior partners in multinational military operations in terms of a trade-off between the legitimacy that is allegedly gained from a large number of coalition states vs. the decrease in military effectiveness associated with the inherent difficulties of coalition warfare. Schmitt determines which political and military variables are more likely to create utility, and he challenges the conventional wisdom about the supposed benefit of having as many states as possible in a coalition. Allies That Count will be of interest to students and scholars of security studies and international relations as well as military practitioners and policymakers.

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9781626165472

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Reviews

A significant addition to the growing field of military cooperation in international politics. The chapter on Afghanistan—based on more than 100 interviews with NATO policymakers—is especially impressive. With a cogent argument and meticulously researched, Allies That Count represents an important contribution to the study of coalition warfare, as well as a useful building block for future studies of alliance military effectiveness. * Political Science Quarterly * Seeks to answer the questions that we had no theoretical or conceptual framework to answer when I was in the Pentagon: what qualities make allies useful in coalition warfare, and when are they more trouble than they are worth? * Joint Forces Quarterly * Exceptionally well structured and written; thus although it uses complex concepts, it is surprisingly easy to read. . . . Also a great example of how scholars can build bridges innovatively between different literature and research methods. * Defense & Security Analysis *

Exceptionally well structured and written; thus although it uses complex concepts, it is surprisingly easy to read. . . . Also a great example of how scholars can build bridges innovatively between different literature and research methods. * Defense & Security Analysis * Seeks to answer the questions that we had no theoretical or conceptual framework to answer when I was in the Pentagon: what qualities make allies useful in coalition warfare, and when are they more trouble than they are worth? * Joint Forces Quarterly *

Author Information

Olivier Schmitt is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration and a member of the Center for War Studies, both at the University of Southern Denmark. He is also a reserve officer in the French navy, the scientific director of the French Association for War and Strategic Studies (AEGES), the editor of Raymond Aron and International Relations, and has authored three books published in France.

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