INTERNATION

AL
RELATIONS

Joshua S. Goldstein
Jon C. Pevehouse

20132014 Update
Tenth Edition

Chapter Six:
Military Force
and Terrorism

Refugees flee new fighting near Goma, Democratic Congo,

2008

6.1 Conventional Forces

Land Forces: Controlling Territory
Naval Forces: Controlling the Seas
Air Forces: Controlling the Skies
Coordinating Forces: Logistics and
Intelligence
Evolving Technologies

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Land Forces and Naval

Forces
Control of territory is fundamental to state
sovereignty and is accomplished primarily with
ground forces.
Small missiles and electronic warfare are
increasingly important, especially for naval and
air forces. The role
of satellites is expanding in communications,
navigation,
and reconnaissance.

Air Forces
Air war, using precision-guided bombs
against battlefield targets, proved
extremely effective in the U.S. campaigns
in Iraq in 1991, Serbia in 1999,
Afghanistan in 2001, and Iraq in 2003.

WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS

Counterinsurgency warfare has become central to the

missions of uniformed military forces worldwide. The U.S.
military rewrote its counterinsurgency manual and
changed its tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan to emphasize
political and economic activities and positive relations
with civilian populations. Here, in the capital of Somalia, a
Ugandan soldier with the African Union force works on
befriending local children after the AU ousted Islamist

PROJECTING POWER

Different types of military forces are adapted to different

purposes. Aircraft carriers are used for power projection in
distant regions, such as in the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns.

President of the
United States,
Barack Obama

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

The information revolution is making smaller weapons and

smaller dispersed units more potent. A revolution in
military affairs is driving changes in U.S. military strategy,
including the expanding use of unmanned drones. This
insect-sized drone shown in 2011 could collect real-time
intelligence in complex urban environments.

6.1 Conventional Forces

Q: In conventional forces, __________.

A) infantry, armor, and blacksmiths are part of

armies
B) marines move to battle in ships but fight on
land
C) the minority of soldiers are involved in logistics
D) electronics, especially radar, are relied on most
by artillery

Answer:

B) Marines move to battle in ships but fight on

land

True-False:

The most fundamental and traditional

purpose of conventional forces is to take,
hold, or defend territory.

Answer:

True

6.2 Terrorism
Political violence
Purpose
Primary effect is psychological
Classic cases, 1970s-2001
Persistence is puzzling
More willing than states are to violate the norms of
the international system
State-sponsored terrorism

ASYMMETRICAL CONFLICT

Terrorist attacks often reflect the weakness of the

perpetrators and their lack of access to other means of
leverage. Terror can sometimes amplify a small groups power
and affect outcomes. Al Qaedas September 11, 2001,
attacks, staged by a relatively small nonstate actor,
ultimately led to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi
Arabia, drew the United States into a counterinsurgency war
in Iraq, and brought al Qaeda itself a surge of recruits for new
attacks worldwide.

6.2 Terrorism
Q: Which of the following is characteristic of
terrorism?

A) Acts of terrorism kill hundreds of

thousands of people every year.
B) The primary effect of terrorism is
psychological.
C) Terrorists are acting to gain leverage
against nonstate actors.
D) Terrorists acts are typically random acts
with no clear goal in mind.

Answer:

B) The primary effect of terrorism is

psychological.

True-False:

Those cases in which a nonstate actor

utilizes violence against civilians by secret
nonuniformed forces, operating across
international borders, as leverage against
state actors are considered classic cases
of terrorism.

Answer:

True

6.3 Weapons of Mass

Destruction
Nuclear Weapons
Ballistic Missiles and Other Delivery Systems
Chemical and Biological weapons
Proliferation
Nuclear Strategy and Arms Control

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Nuclear Weapons
Distinguished from conventional weapons by
their enormous potential lethality
Fission vs. Fusion

NUKE IN A BOX
Nuclear weapons were invented during World War II and used
on two Japanese cities in 1945. Tens of thousands have been
built, and nine states now possess them. Obtaining fi
ssionable materials is the main difficulty in making nuclear
weapons. Terrorists efforts to obtain them pose a grave
threat. Here, in 1999, a U.S. congressman displays a mock-up
of the Soviet-built nuclear suitcase bomb that, in the wrong
hands, could kill hundreds of thousands of people.

Ballistic Missiles & Other Delivery

Systems
Strategic and tactical
Ballistic missiles
Cruise missiles

Chemical & Biological

Weapons

How they work

Effects

Delivery systems
Efforts to control use

VULNERABLE

Civilians are more vulnerable to chemical weapons than

soldiers are. A treaty aims to ban chemical weapons
worldwide. Here, Israeli kindergarteners prepare against a
chemical warfare threat from Iraqi Scud missiles during
the Gulf War, 1991.

Proliferation
Implications
Forms of proliferation
Efforts to inhibit or prohibit proliferation

SOMETHING TO HIDE

The most important hurdle in

making nuclear weapons is
access to fissionable
materials (plutonium and
uranium). Irans enrichment
of uranium could give that
country nuclear bombs within
the decade. Fueling Western
suspicions, Iran has not been
forthcoming with
international inspectors. Iran
bulldozed this large site and
removed its topsoil in 2004
before letting inspectors in.
In 2006 and 2007, the UN
Security Council applied mild
sanctions against Iran over its

Nuclear Strategy & Arms

Control

First strike, second strike

Mutually assured destruction

Defense
Arms control treaties

The U.S. and Russian presidents sign thick arms

control treaty, 2010.

DEFENSIVE MOVE

The nuclear arms race between the superpowers during the

Cold War led to strategies and arms control agreements that
helped develop norms and expectations about nuclear
weapons and missiles. India and Pakistan have followed a
similar arms race, leading to mutual deterrence. Recently,
defense against missiles has begun to enter the strategic
calculus. Here, Israels new Iron Dome system shoots
down short-range missiles from Gaza in 2012.

THE WAR IS OVER

U.S. and Russian nuclear forces were greatly reduced in

the 1990s. Here, U.S. B-52 bombers are being chopped
up, under the eye of Russian satellites, to bring force
levels down.

6.3 Weapons of Mass Destruction

Q: How do strategic weapons compare to tactical
weapons?
A) Strategic weapons are short-range weapons,
whereas tactical weapons are long-range
weapons.
B) Strategic weapons are long-range weapons,
whereas tactical weapons are short-range
weapons.
C) Strategic weapons are integrated into air, sea, and
land forces using delivery systems such as artillery
shells and land mines, whereas tactical weapons
are carried mainly on missiles.
D) Theft or accidents are a concern regarding
strategic weapons, but not tactical weapons.

Answer:

B) Strategic weapons are long-range weapons,

whereas tactical weapons are short-range
weapons.

True-False:

Shock pulse is an effect of a nuclear explosion.

Answer:

False

6.4 States and Militaries

Military Economics
Control of Military Forces
Civil Military Relations

Military Economics and Control of

Military Forces
Arms imports and exports - imports by
states in the global South make up more
than half of all arms sales.
Chain of command - except in times of civil
war, state leaderswhether civilian or
militarycontrol military forces through a
single hierarchical chain of command.

TAKING OVER

Through a hierarchical chain of command, states control the

actions of millions of individual soldiers, creating leverage in
the hands of state leaders. But armed forces still sometimes
defy civilian control. Here, soldiers in Mali stage a coup
(2012) that unwittingly sparked an Islamist takeover of half
the country and then a French military intervention.

Civil-Military Relations
Military governments and coup detat
Civilian control
Covert operations
Private contractors

6.4 States and Militaries

Q: CIA covert operations in the 1950s overthrew
governments unfriendly to the United States in
__________.

A) Cuba and Vietnam

B) Iran and Guatemala
C) Korea and South Africa
D) Romania and Iraq

Answer:

B) Iran and Guatemala

True-False:

The choices about military capabilities

that leaders have to make include how
much to spend on military capabilities.

Answer:

True

Chapter Discussion
Question
Military forces include a wide variety of
capabilities suited to different purposes.
Why does conventional warfare require
different kinds of forces than those needed
to threaten the use of nuclear, chemical,
or biological weapons? Further, why is
control of territory so crucial to some, and
why is it typically accomplished primarily
with ground forces?