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Empirical Tests of Conventional Deterrence. Huth (1988) published major study testing
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1. PS 142War and Peace The Conventional Deterrence Debate
2. Empirical Tests of Conventional Deterrence Huth (1988) published major study testing “extended immediate deterrence”
Defending challenges against 3rd party protégé
58 cases of “extended immediate deterrence.”
3. Empirical Findings from Huth Military capabilities matter
“immediate” balance matters most
“short term” matters too, not “long term”
Reciprocating strategy
Reputation for TFT
Not bullying OR appeasement
4. Empirical Non-Findings from Huth Links between defender and protégé NO impact
Alliance ties
Trade
Arms Transfers
Still, overall viewed as strong support for Deterrence Theory
5. Critiques of Deterrence Theory Lebow and Stein, several problems with deterrence theory
Psychological vs. Rational Actor approach
Disliked US foreign policy
Disliked statistical approach
Critique focused on Huth’s data
Debate over research design & measures
6. Critiques of Huth and Russett Dataset “Cold War” sources – dataset “blames” China and USSR for crises
No – “challenger” coding not pejorative
L&S say Huth “challengers” never had a “serious” intention of attacking
Demand direct evidence that challenger WOULD have attacked without deterrent threat
7. Lebow and Stein Data on Extended Deterrence L&S use their own rules to code cases of “extended deterrence”
Only 13 cases in past 100 years!
Only three “successful” cases
Munich 1938
Six Day War 1967
Greece and Turkey 1974
8. L&S REAL critique These data allow L&S to say “deterrence does not work”
Defenders should not make threats
Defenders should focus on “reassurance”
Increasing the value of capitulation
Advocating a policy of appeasement
9. Critiquing the L&S Data on Deterrence L&S codings implausible on their face
Only “successes” are two of the most famous failures of deterrence
Only ONE real success in 100 years???
Why are these data so skewed?
L&S demand for “serious” intention to attack selects ONLY challengers who CANNOT be deterred
10. Lessons from the Deterrence Debate Research design matters!
Rules for selecting cases and measuring variables determine your result
Are the cases representative of the phenomenon you want to study?
This is the problem of Selection Bias
Also explains some of Huth’s odd results
Defender Ties to Protégé
11. Lessons from the Deterrence Debate Theory and policy are linked, but they are not the same thing
Evidence in support of deterrence theory is not necessarily evidence in support of US foreign policy
Example: Schelling’s arguments come from deterrence theory, but they are not ALWAYS good policy
12. Policy Applications of Conventional Deterrence Conventional Deterrence and the war in Iraq:
Should the US have done things differently before the war?
Should the US be doing things differently now?