The Dictator's Army by Caitlin Talmadge
A compelling new argument to help us understand why authoritarian militaries sometimes fight very welland sometimes very poorly. Talmadge's framework for understanding battlefield effectiveness focuses on four key sets of military organizational practices.
"The Dictator's Army is a landmark book that greatly deepens our understanding of how dictators fight warsStudents, scholars, and policymakers will all benefit from reading this important work." -- Dan Reiter, Samuel Candler Dobbs Chair of Political Science, Emory University
"Through superb case comparisons Caitlin Talmadge shows carefully how military effectiveness varies, why it depends on far more than the technical factors normally considered, and especially the differences due to political and social characteristics of regimes. She takes analysis of the subject to a new level." -- Richard K. Betts, Director, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University
"Understanding the military behavior of autocracies is an important topic for both policymakers and political scientists. Combining new theory with in-depth research, The Dictator's Army persuasively demonstrates how fear of domestic turmoil influences both the military organizational choices of autocrats and the success of their militaries on the battlefield. This book is a fascinating read, one that makes a significant contribution to our scholarship on military effectiveness and security studies more generally." -- Michael C. Horowitz, University of Pennsylvania
"Why are some nondemocracies more effective than others on the battlefield? This question is really important for U.S. policy. In this highly original book, Caitlin Talmadge shows how the measures taken by authoritarian regimes to protect against coups makes their militaries less able to fight conventional wars." -- Theo Farrell, Head of the Department of War Studies, King's College London
"Through superb case comparisons Caitlin Talmadge shows carefully how military effectiveness varies, why it depends on far more than the technical factors normally considered, and especially the differences due to political and social characteristics of regimes. She takes analysis of the subject to a new level." -- Richard K. Betts, Director, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University
"Understanding the military behavior of autocracies is an important topic for both policymakers and political scientists. Combining new theory with in-depth research, The Dictator's Army persuasively demonstrates how fear of domestic turmoil influences both the military organizational choices of autocrats and the success of their militaries on the battlefield. This book is a fascinating read, one that makes a significant contribution to our scholarship on military effectiveness and security studies more generally." -- Michael C. Horowitz, University of Pennsylvania
"Why are some nondemocracies more effective than others on the battlefield? This question is really important for U.S. policy. In this highly original book, Caitlin Talmadge shows how the measures taken by authoritarian regimes to protect against coups makes their militaries less able to fight conventional wars." -- Theo Farrell, Head of the Department of War Studies, King's College London
Caitlin Talmadge is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University. She is coauthor of US Defense Politics: The Origins of Security Policy.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781501700293 |
| ISBN 10 | 1501700294 |
| Title | The Dictator's Army |
| Author | Caitlin Talmadge |
| Series | Cornell Studies In Security Affairs |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Cornell University Press |
| Year published | 2015-09-22 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Prizes | Winner of Cowinner, International Security Studies Book Awar. |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |