Journal of International Studies

This article is based on a speech given by Alexei Arbatov at the international conference “Russia in the 21st-Century World of Power” held to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy and the tenth anniversary of  Russia in Global Affairs . The “power of arms,” in other words, the role of military force in politics and war is mostly determined by the nature of potential and real arms conflicts; by military-technical progress and available economic resources needed for defense; and by ambitions and phobias of state leaders, military-industrial complexes and their contractors at research centers and in the media. PREMONITION OF WAR Contrary to the widespread belief among the Russian military-political elite, all objective parameters indicate that the threat of a major war is now (and in the future) less than ever in modern history. And the reason is not the stockpiles of nuclear weapons possessed by the leading powers: during the Cold War the...

In this Essay, Professor Matthew Waxman argues that debates about constitutional war powers neglect the critical role of  threats  of war or force in American foreign policy. The recent Syria case highlights the President’s vast legal power to threaten military force as well as the political constraints imposed by Congress on such threats. Incorporating threats into an understanding of constitutional powers over war and peace upends traditional arguments about presidential flexibility and congressional checks — arguments that have failed to keep pace with changes in American grand strategy.

On October 7, Brookings  hosted Oxford University Professor Margaret MacMillan  to talk about her new book on World War I,  The War that Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 , and specifically what comparisons may be drawn between the world leading up to that war and tensions around the world today. After an introduction by  Ted Piccone , acting vice president of Foreign Policy at Brookings, Senior Fellow  Robert Kagan responded to MacMillan's opening remarks and moderated questions from the audience. Kagan and MacMillan engaged in an interesting discussion about the changing understanding of World War I's origins, China's rise and how it might echo Germany pre-1914, and whether contemporary global tensions have any useful parallels to the world of 1914. Margaret MacMillan: "And I think we can’t learn clear lessons from history. What we can learn is to watch out for dangerous possibilities." MacMillan called the origins of World...

A new report details the civilian costs of U.S. drone strikes -- and failures to compensate the families of victims.  BY LETTA TAYLER   |   OCTOBER 22, 2013 On a sultry evening in August 2012, five men gathered under a cluster of date palms near the local mosque in Khashamir, a village of stone and mud houses in southeastern Yemen. Two of the men were locals and well known in their community. The other three were strangers. Moments later, U.S. drones tore across the sky and launched four Hellfire missiles at the men. The first three missiles killed four of the men instantly, blasting their body parts across the grounds of the mosque. The final strike took out the fifth man as he tried to crawl to safety. Yemen's Defense Ministry described the three strangers as members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a group that the United States calls al Qaeda's most active branch. The men were killed, ministry officials said, while "meeting their fellows....