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 ... Read moreLondon 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 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 The Dictator's Army is a landmark book that greatly deepens our understanding of how dictators fight wars. Students, scholars, and policymakers will all benefit from reading this important work.
Dan Reiter, Samuel Candler Dobbs Chair of Political Science, Emory University Show Less