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Begin New Search Political Geography Europe Publishing Institution Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy

1. Play to Win: Sticking to a Playbook in the Competition with Russia

Author:
George Fust
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
Russia docks a warship in Havana knowing it will provoke a response from the United States. How dare they. The US Navy dispatched a destroyer to shadow the vessel; after all, the United States has the Monroe doctrine to enforce. A few weeks prior, Russia sent around a hundred troops to Venezuela. This also provoked a response, albeit rhetorical. Despite these US reactions, Russia continues to play strategic games. Why did the United States respond to these actions in these ways? And what is the most appropriate response?
Topic:
Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, South America, and North America

2. U.S.-EU Counterterrorism Responses Post 9/11: Time for Strategic Cooperation

Author:
Bryan Groves
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
The lead up to the Iraq War and its conduct has highlighted significant differences in traditional perspectives, capabilities, and methods. While terrorism has been America's central fixation since 9/11, Europe still sees terrorism as one of several important threats today, with proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, failed states, regional conflicts, and organized crime among other top tier threats. The U.S. possesses a comparative advantage in intelligence gathering and kinetic strike cabability. This military strength has enabled the U.S. to favor it as its top tool in waging its global war on terrorism (GWOT). On the other hand, Europe's tendency toward employment of troops for nation-building and peacekeeping missions is in line with its strengths and its preferences. Europe countries also favour an extensive consensus building period of diplomatic maneuvering to establish a widely accepted multilateral response to threats, America under the current administration, however, has insisted on remaining.
Topic:
Security, Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Security
Political Geography:
Iraq, America, Europe, and Middle East

3. Belgian Country Report

Author:
Bryan Groves
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
A number of important geopolitical events in the last three decades, Belgium's membership in the EU and its adoption of the Euro, along with its domestic responses have impacted recent developments in its economy. The nation has been marked by an increasing Real GDP, a balanced budget, a CA surplus, improved terms of trade, decreased openness, high unemployment, an ageing population, a pending social security crisis, and a contractionary fiscal and monetary policy meant to keep inflation low and increase national savings to avoid a social security disaster.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

4. Baltic History and Soviet Empire: Recovering the Past in Soviet and Russian Historical Discourse

Author:
Thomas Sherlock
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
This paper is a modest effort to sketch the transformation of public memory in conditions of political transition. Specifically, it examines the recovery and interpretation of the Baltic past in Soviet and post-Soviet discourse. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part examines the desacralization of the central myths that legitimated the Soviet empire and its rule over the Baltic nationalities. The debate on Baltic history during perestroika was part of a larger - and increasingly destructive -- examination of Soviet history that shocked society with a flood of negative revelations about the past, forcing political and academic authorities to cancel secondary school exams and discard existing textbooks as virtually useless. This struggle over how to interpret the Soviet past eventually weakened the normative supports of the Soviet state, contributing to its collapse in 1991.
Topic:
Cold War and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

5. Democratic Politics and NATO War Making: Great Britain, Germany and America in the Kosovo Crisis

Author:
Scott A. Silverstone
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
NATO's ability to assume an activist military role in the international system will depend on the capacity of its member states to generate and sustain domestic support for using military force and for adapting to the changing military conditions that evolve over the course of armed conflict. This article argues that the ability or willingness of national leaders to use force through NATO will vary significantly depending on the arrangement of their democratic political institutions. In the Kosovo war, while Great Britain was a persistent advocate of a ground assault, Germany threatened to veto any such NATO action. The United States was between these extremes, only slowly moving toward acceptance of a ground assault over the course of the conflict. The key variable, "institutional vulnerability" (defined by the degree to which the executive is vulnerable to being removed from office and losing decision-making autonomy to legislative opponents), is the basis for contrasting Britain's Westminster parliamentary, Germany's coalition parliamentary, and America's presidential systems, and for explaining their policy differences in this crisis.
Topic:
Defense Policy and NATO
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Kosovo