Bruce M. Russett's Books

No Clear And Present Danger

A Skeptical View Of The UNited States Entry Into World War II

By: Bruce M Russett

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No Clear And Present Danger

A Skeptical View Of The UNited States Entry Into World War II

By: Bruce M Russett

From the Preface to the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition:This was a controversial book, and likely remains so.? The world 25 years later looks quite different. With the end of the Cold War, the United States is now the world's only superpower. If this country cannot shape the international system and bring peace and stability to much of the world, surely no other state can. Yet the will to a broadly internationalist foreign policy cannot currently be found in the United States. The near-consensus that ranged across foreign policy elites before the Vietnam War has never been restored. Maybe that's just as well. But I hold to much of the basic perspective of this book as offering some guidance for fellow ?cooperative internationalists.? The power to shape international affairs is limited; military intervention is a costly, blunt, and dangerous instrument. The five questions I ask on page 108 of this book remain appropriate. I do believe there are appropriate circumstances for military action in international affairs. In most circumstances I do not believe that it is desirable, effective, or just to try to spread democracy or other American values by force of arms. Much more could be done by way of financial assistance as well as consistent ideological and technical support to create a more democratic and interdependent environment within which peace can be secured.? If the Vietnam War derived in substantial part from an overconfident and unilateral interpretation of history, that is a mistake from which we can still learn.

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Page Count

124

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

0429978308

ISBN 13

9780429978302

Principles of International Politics

By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

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Principles of International Politics

By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

This work shows students how leaders translate their personal interests and ambitions into actions of the state and, thus, demonstrates how international and domestic politics are inextricably linked. It covers topics such as power, the causes of war and international affairs.

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601

Publisher

SAGE

Published Date

ISBN 10

1452202982

ISBN 13

9781452202983

The Fighting Sullivans

How Hollywood and the Military Make Heroes

By: Bruce Kuklick

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The Fighting Sullivans

How Hollywood and the Military Make Heroes

By: Bruce Kuklick

In November of 1942, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, were killed when a Japanese torpedo sank their ship during the most ferocious naval engagement fought in the South Pacific. The family's loss, the most extraordinary for the United States in its military history, was immortalized—and valorized—in the 1944 film The Fighting Sullivans. This book tells the story of how calamity, with the help of Hollywood and the wartime publicity machine, transformed a family of marginal and disreputable young men, intensely disliked in their hometown, into heroes. The Sullivan boys joined the armed forces after Pearl Harbor, and the US Navy accepted that they would all serve on one ship, the light cruiser USS Juneau. The five brothers gave the navy great publicity, but when the ship went down and survivors were not rescued, the service faced a serious problem. The Fighting Sullivans examines the campaign that followed, as the navy and its partners in Hollywood turned a tragedy of errors into a public relations victory. Bruce Kuklick shows how the myth of the Sullivan family was created using bits and pieces of real events, but with twists that turned the boys into superhumans and their beleaguered parents into self-sacrificing patriots. He explores the close relationship between Hollywood studios and the military, which aimed to boost morale and support for the war. A study in mythmaking, The Fighting Sullivans offers a behind-the-scenes look at the manufacture of heroes in twentieth-century wartime America.

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Page Count

224

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

070062354X

ISBN 13

9780700623549

Regulation and the Reagan Era

Politics, Bureaucracy and the Public Interest

By: Roger E. Meiners,Bruce Yandle,Robert Crandall

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Regulation and the Reagan Era

Politics, Bureaucracy and the Public Interest

By: Roger E. Meiners,Bruce Yandle,Robert Crandall

Was the so-called “Reagan Revolution” a disappointment regarding the federal systems of special-interest regulation? Many of that administration's friends as well as its opponents think so. But under what criteria? To what extent? And why? When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, the popular belief was that the size of government would be cut and that some of the regulatory excesses of the prior decade would be rolled back. However, the growth of the federal government continued throughout the Reagan presidency and no agencies were phased out. What were the apparently powerful forces that rendered most of the bureaucracy impervious to reform? In this book, professional economists and lawyers who were at, or near, the top of the decision-making process in various federal agencies during the Reagan years discuss attempts to reign in the bureaucracy. Their candid comments and personal insights shed new light on the susceptibility of the American government to bureaucratic interests. This book is required reading for anyone wishing to understand the true reasons why meaningful, effective governmental reform at the federal level is so difficult, regardless of which political party controls the White House or Congress.

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Page Count

426

Publisher

Independent Institute

Published Date

ISBN 10

1598132997

ISBN 13

9781598132991

War and the Rise of the State

By: Bruce D. Porter

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War and the Rise of the State

By: Bruce D. Porter

States make war, but war also makes states. As Publishers Weekly notes, “Porter, a political scientist at Brigham Young University, demonstrates that wars have been catalysts for increasing the size and power of Western governments since the Renaissance. The state’s monopoly of effective violence has diminished not only individual rights and liberties, but also the ability of local communities and private associates to challenge the centralization of authority. Porter’s originality lies in his thesis that war, breaking down barriers of class, gender, ethnicity, and ideology, also contributes to meritocracy, mobility, and, above all, democratization. Porter also posits the emergence of the “Scientific Warfare State,” a political system in which advanced technology would render obsolete mass participation in war. This provocative study merits wide circulation and serious discussion.”

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Page Count

663

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1439105480

ISBN 13

9781439105481

The Predictioneer's Game

Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Future

By: Bruce Bueno De Mesquita

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The Predictioneer's Game

Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Future

By: Bruce Bueno De Mesquita

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is a master of game theory, which is a fancy label for a simple idea: People compete, and they always do what they think is in their own best interest. Bueno de Mesquita uses game theory and its insights into human behavior to predict and even engineer political, financial, and personal events. His forecasts, which have been employed by everyone from the CIA to major business firms, have an amazing 90 percent accuracy rate, and in this dazzling and revelatory book he shares his startling methods and lets you play along in a range of high-stakes negotiations and conflicts. Revealing the origins of game theory and the advances made by John Nash, the Nobel Prize—winning scientist perhaps best known from A Beautiful Mind, Bueno de Mesquita details the controversial and cold-eyed system of calculation that he has since created, one that allows individuals to think strategically about what their opponents want, how much they want it, and how they might react to every move. From there, Bueno de Mesquita games such events as the North Korean disarmament talks and the Middle East peace process and recalls, among other cases, how he correctly predicted which corporate clients of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm were most likely engaged in fraudulent activity (hint: one of them started with an E). And looking as ever to the future, Bueno de Mesquita also demonstrates how game theory can provide successful strategies to combat both global warming (instead of relying on empty regulations, make nations compete in technology) and terror (figure out exactly how much U.S. aid will make Pakistan fight the Taliban). But as Bueno de Mesquita shows, game theory isn’t just for saving the world. It can help you in your own life, whether you want to succeed in a lawsuit (lawyers argue too much the merits of the case and question too little the motives of their opponents), elect the CEO of your company (change the system of voting on your board to be more advantageous to your candidate), or even buy a car (start by knowing exactly what you want, call every dealer in a fifty-mile radius, and negotiate only over the phone). Savvy, provocative, and shockingly effective, The Predictioneer’s Game will change how you understand the world and manage your future. Life’s a game, and how you play is whether you win or lose.

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Page Count

272

Publisher

Random House

Published Date

ISBN 10

1588369080

ISBN 13

9781588369086

Hegemony and Democracy

By: Bruce Russett

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Hegemony and Democracy

By: Bruce Russett

Hegemony and Democracy is constructed around the question of whether hegemony is sustainable, especially when the hegemon is a democratic state. The book draws on earlier publications over Bruce Russett’s long career and features new chapters that show the continuing relevance of his scholarship. In examining hegemony during and after the Cold War, it addresses: The importance of domestic politics in the formulation of foreign policy; The benefits and costs of seeking security through military power at the expense of expanding networks of shared national and transnational institutions; The incentives of other states to bandwagon with a strong but unthreatening hegemon and 'free-ride' on benefits it may provide rather than to balance against a powerful hegemon. The degree to which hegemony and democracy undermine or support each other. By applying theories of collective action and foreign policy, Russett explores the development of American hegemony and the prospects for a democratic hegemon to retain its influence during the coming decades. This collection is an essential volume for students and scholars of International Relations, American Politics, and US Foreign Policy.

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Page Count

325

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1136818863

ISBN 13

9781136818868

Military Development In Africa

The Political And Economic Risks Of Arms Transfers

By: Bruce E. Arlinghaus

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Military Development In Africa

The Political And Economic Risks Of Arms Transfers

By: Bruce E. Arlinghaus

Increases in the number and improvements in the quality of arms transferred to sub-Saharan African nations clearly will affect those nations' economic development and political stability both immediately and in the long term. Problems of technology absorption, manpower development, and the diversion of financial and human resources occasioned by such transfers become more and more critical as the demand for military modernization by African governments grows and the industrial nations compete to meet the demand. Dr. Arlinghaus evaluates conflicting assessments of the costs and benefits of military development from the perspective that it would be best for African nations to allocate resources for defense on the basis of socioeconomic considerations as well as their military and political goals.

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137

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

0429725108

ISBN 13

9780429725104

Deterrence and Escalation in Competition with Russia

The Role of Ground Forces in Preventing Hostile Measures Below Armed Conflict in Europe

By: Stephen Watts,Bryan Rooney,Gene Germanovich,Bruce McClintock,Stephanie Pezard,Clint Reach,Melissa Shostak

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Deterrence and Escalation in Competition with Russia

The Role of Ground Forces in Preventing Hostile Measures Below Armed Conflict in Europe

By: Stephen Watts,Bryan Rooney,Gene Germanovich,Bruce McClintock,Stephanie Pezard,Clint Reach,Melissa Shostak

U.S. forward military posture can both deter and provoke armed conflict, and a similar logic pertains below the level of armed conflict. The authors of this report identify how forward posture could deter hostile measures in the competition space below the level of armed conflict through several mechanisms, particularly focusing on the presence of U.S. ground forces.

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Page Count

296

Publisher

Rand Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

1977408451

ISBN 13

9781977408457

The Logic of Political Survival

By: Bruce Bueno De Mesquita,Alastair Smith,Randolph M. Siverson,James D. Morrow

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The Logic of Political Survival

By: Bruce Bueno De Mesquita,Alastair Smith,Randolph M. Siverson,James D. Morrow

The authors of this ambitious book address a fundamental political question: why are leaders who produce peace and prosperity turned out of office while those who preside over corruption, war, and misery endure? Considering this political puzzle, they also answer the related economic question of why some countries experience successful economic development and others do not. The authors construct a provocative theory on the selection of leaders and present specific formal models from which their central claims can be deduced. They show how political leaders allocate resources and how institutions for selecting leaders create incentives for leaders to pursue good and bad public policy. They also extend the model to explain the consequences of war on political survival. Throughout the book, they provide illustrations from history, ranging from ancient Sparta to Vichy France, and test the model against statistics gathered from cross-national data. The authors explain the political intuition underlying their theory in nontechnical language, reserving formal proofs for chapter appendixes. They conclude by presenting policy prescriptions based on what has been demonstrated theoretically and empirically.

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Page Count

556

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262524406

ISBN 13

9780262524407

Predicting Politics

By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

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Predicting Politics

By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

To predict likely policy developments around the world over the next thirty years, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita uses game theoretic models as described in Predicting Politics. The tools used in this book have found wide application in business and in the development of significant American foreign policy initiatives over the years. The author uses data from 1948 to show the ability of models to predict the end of the Cold War. He then turns to data from 1980 for about one hundred countries and simulates future states of the world, especially with regard to further democratization. In the process he shows strong evidence that the burst of democratization that occurred at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s was predictable based on replicable data known in 1980. While delving into rather gloomy predictions about likely developments in Russia and China's domestic affairs, he offers a novel explanation for the failure of Russia to attract more investment and to achieve the higher growth rates commonly associated with democratic government. Although Russia is certainly more democratic in an absolute sense today than it was in 1980, it has fallen farther behind the rest of the world in terms of democratization and so lacks the comparative advantages of property rights, rule of law, and transparent governance that are essential for attracting investment. Bueno de Mesquita shows how policy situations and game theoretical analyses can explain the past, illuminate the present and forecast future events. At the same time he provides the tools necessary for others to create their own rigorous estimates of future foreign policies.

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Page Count

194

Publisher

Ohio State University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0814208983

ISBN 13

9780814208984

Made, Not Born

Why Some Soldiers Are Better Than Others

By: Bruce Newsome

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Made, Not Born

Why Some Soldiers Are Better Than Others

By: Bruce Newsome

Why do the combat capabilities of individual soldiers vary so much? This book seeks to provide an answer to this and other questions about variability in combat performance. Some soldiers flee quickly from the battlefield, while others endure all hardships until the bitter end. Some combat units can perform numerous types of missions, while others cannot keep themselves organized during peacetime. Some militaries armed with obsolete weapons have out fought enemies with the latest weapons, just as some massively outnumbered armies have beaten back much larger opponents. In this first social scientific study of the effectiveness of combat troops, Newsome evaluates competing explanations for the varying combat capabilities and performances. There are four main explanations, each emphasizing the influence of a single factor. The first focuses on material endowments. How well funded are the troops? Do they have the latest protective gear and the most advanced weaponry? Second, some analysts claim that democracies produce better commanders, superior strategies, more motivated personnel, or better-managed personnel; others, however, associated those characteristics with more authoritarian forms of government. Third is the idea that giving more power to the troops on the ground in individual combat units empowers them with decision-making capability and adaptability to fast-changing situations and circumstances. Newsome presents evidence that decentralized personnel management does correlate with superior combat performance. Fourth, soldier capabilities and performance often are assumed to reflect intrinsic attributes, such as prior civilian values. Newsome argues that the capabilities of combat soldiers are acquired through military training and other forms of conditioning, but he does not entirely discount the role of a soldier's individual character. In the age-old nature vs. nurture argument, he finds that intrinsic qualities do count, but that extrinsic factors, such as training and environment, matter even more.

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Page Count

217

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0275998312

ISBN 13

9780275998318

The War Trap

By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

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The War Trap

By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

Offers a general theory of war and international conflict, looks at specific modern military confrontations, and dispels some common misconceptions about war

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Page Count

240

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300030916

ISBN 13

9780300030914

Book's by Bruce M. Russett

No Clear And Present Danger

No Clear And Present Danger

Principles of International Politics

Principles of International Politics

The Fighting Sullivans

The Fighting Sullivans

Regulation and the Reagan Era

Regulation and the Reagan Era

War and the Rise of the State

War and the Rise of the State

The Predictioneer's Game

The Predictioneer's Game

Hegemony and Democracy

Hegemony and Democracy

Military Development In Africa

Military Development In Africa

Deterrence and Escalation in Competition with Russia

Deterrence and Escalation in Competition with Russia

The Logic of Political Survival

The Logic of Political Survival

Predicting Politics

Predicting Politics

Made, Not Born

Made, Not Born

The War Trap

The War Trap

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