[dropcapThe Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), more commonly known as “Star Wars,” remains one of the most controversial aspects of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Frequently misrepresented as a science fiction fantasy focused on space lasers, in reality SDI was a multi-billion-dollar group of research projects into technologies with civilian and defense applications. Technological realities aside, Reagan hoped…
Tag: NATO
H-Diplo | RJISSF Commentary III-3 on Marc Trachtenberg, “Is There Life after NATO?”
H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Commentary III-3 Forum on Marc Trachtenberg, “Is There Life after NATO?” 16 January 2025 | PDF: https://issforum.org/to/CIII-3 | Website: rjissf.org | Twitter: @HDiplo Editor: Diane Labrosse | Commissioning Editor: Diane Labrosse | Production Editor: Christopher Ball Contents Introduction by Jack Snyder, Columbia University. 2 “Is There Life after NATO?” by Marc Trachtenberg, UCLA. 5…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Article Review 172: Ellison on Michaels, “An Indefinite Alliance?”
Jeffrey Michaels’s piece on Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty is a welcome addition to the often stale historical scholarship on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The article engages with two fundamental questions at the core of debates surrounding NATO: how long is the treaty actually meant to last; and how do NATO…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Commentary II-7 on the UK’s Response to Russia’s War against Ukraine
February 24th 2022 marks the beginning of a new dark era in European and international security. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is the latest manifestation of Russia as a threat to both international security and the liberal word order that began with the Russian-Georgian war in August 2008 and continued with Russia’s annexation of Crimea…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Policy Roundtable III-2: NATO and Nuclear Disarmament
In the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Finland and Sweden applied for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This constitutes the most fundamental security shift in the Baltic Sea region since the end of the Cold War. As members of NATO, the two Nordic neighbors will intensify…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Review Essay 92: Chiampan on Tardy, ed., The Nations of NATO
The Nations of NATO brings together an all-star team of NATO scholars to assess the state of the alliance on the eve of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prominent questions, which have perhaps been over-explored regarding NATO’s cohesion and continued relevance in the post-Cold War era inspired, informed, and shaped the book’s thirteen…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Roundtable 15-21 on Hlatky, Deploying Feminism
The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda, which was engendered by United Nations Security Council 1325, is now nearly a quarter-century old. Researchers have a solid evidence base on which to judge its implementation, and Stéfanie Von Hlatky’s work is part of a now-extensive research agenda on how it has evolved.[1] Specifically, Deploying Feminism speaks…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Article Review 164: Nielson on Bjørnsson, “Negotiating Armageddon”
H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Article Review 164 Iben Bjørnsson, “Negotiating Armageddon: Civil Defence in NATO and Denmark, 1949-59,” Cold War History, 23:2 (2023): 217-238, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14682745.2022.2123915 Reviewed by Aske Hennelund Nielsen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg 16 November 2023 | PDF: http://issforum.org/to/JAR-164 | Website: rjissf.org | Twitter: @HDiplo Editor: Diane Labrosse | Commissioning Editor:…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Review Essay 82: James on Goldgeier & Shifrinson, eds., Evaluating NATO Enlargement
This interesting and important collections of essays on the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its consequences appeared at a historic moment, in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s full-scale attack of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.[1] It is a development—and to some extent an adjustment—of the papers that were published as a…
H-Diplo|RJISSF Roundtable 15-9 on Colbourn, Euromissiles
Given the uncertain fate of arms control today, and growing concerns about the ability of the United States to deter potentially two-peer nuclear weapons states, Susan Colbourn’s book on the Euromissile debate, deployment, and elimination is important, essential, and timely. Stephan Kieninger calls it “an outstanding achievement.” James Cameron agrees it is “an outstanding book…it…