International Security Yearbook 1984/85 presents an empirical and objective assessment of the events of the year 1984 and 1985 as they affect U.S. security. It seeks to contribute to the national debate on security policies.

Estimates of the potential costs of alternative strategic defense systems should be an intrinsic element in decisions about whether the US should develop and deploy these systems, especially because of the ''opportunity costs' 'involved-what the nation would have to forgo in other military or civilian programs or in private resources because of higher taxes or larger deficits. In this book, the authors describe four notional strategic defense systems, each with a different ambitious object...

This book examines the use of military force as a coercive tool by the United States, using lessons drawn from the post-Cold War era (1991–2018).The volume reveals that despite its status as sole superpower during the post-Cold War period, US efforts to coerce other states failed as often as they succeeded. In the coming decades, the United States will face states that are more capable and creative, willing to challenge its interests and able to take advantage of missteps and vulne...

The United States has used military force short of war as an instrument of diplomacy on many occasions and in many areas of the world in the years since the Second World War. This book describes and analyzes the circumstances accompanying 215 shows of force and examines how effective these actions were in helping to attain U.S. foreign policy objectives. Which type of force (air, ground, naval) was most often used? What did the forces do and how effective were they? Of what significance wa...