Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Book Review: Boots And Suits: Historical Cases And Contemporary Lessons In Military Diplomacy, Kenneth Weisbrode

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Philip S. Kosnett (editor)

Reviewed by Kenneth Weisbrode, assistant professor of history, Bilkent University

Historian and professor Kenneth Weisbrode reviews retired US ambassador Philip S. Kosnett’s anthology on “just how contested, and how significant,” military diplomacy is. After highlighting the value of General Kenneth F. McKenzie’s (US Marine Corps, retired) instructive foreword, which defines military diplomacy, Weisbrode outlines the book’s range of case studies across history (from the Confederacy to Afghanistan), author perspectives (“academics and government officials”), and subject matter (“strategy, operations, and tactics”). He distills some of the book’s essential policy lessons for readers and notes the book’s …

Book Review: Original Sin: Power, Technology And War In Outer Space, Jeffrey Caton

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Bleddyn E. Bowen

Reviewed by Jeffrey Caton, colonel, US Air Force (retired), and president, Kepler Strategies LLC

Based on three key arguments, Original Sin covers the development of spacepower during the Cold War, space technology’s progress, and the weapons, planning and doctrine that surround space warfare. The reviewer notes, “What sets Original Sin apart from similar books is the outstanding context it provides and its willingness to challenge trite slogans attached to spacepower.”

Coercing Fluently: The Grammar Of Coercion In The Twenty-First Century, C. Anthony Pfaff

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

To illustrate the logic and grammar of coercion, this analysis relies on decision-theory methods, such as game theory, that examine the strategic decision-making process in interactions with adversaries and partners. The intent here is not to offer predictive models of rational-actor behavior. Rather, the intent is to use game-theory and similar approaches to understand how coercion works better. This analysis considers competitive interactions between actors that have discrete and qualifiable, if not quantifiable, preferences and who behave rationally, though this analysis acknowledges the behavior that is considered rational is frequently informed by nonrational social, cultural, and psychological factors. Considering these …