Democracy And Deterrence Foundations For An Enduring World Peace

Two fundamental strategies are necessary to create lasting peace in the world: facilitating the spread of democracy and maintaining comprehensive deterrence mechanisms targeted at individual world leaders. Sharp surveys conventional approaches to avoiding war and presents evidence to validate the democratic peace principle (the notion that democracies are inherently more peaceful than non-democracies) and the incentive theory of war avoidance, formulated by John Norton Moore. Sharp proposes a mathematical formula that can be used to predict the probability of peace for a given nation. Comprehensive tables collate data from multiple sources on freedom and human development in nations around the world.

Dr. Sharp argues that two fundamental strategies are necessary to create lasting peace in the world: facilitating the spread of democracy and maintaining comprehensive deterrence mechanisms targeted at individual world leaders. He surveys conventional approaches to avoiding war and presents evidence to validate the democratic peace principle (the notion that democracies are inherently more peaceful than nondemocracies) and the incentive theory of war avoidance, formulated by John Norton Moore. Dr. Sharp proposes a mathematical formula that can be used to predict the probability of peace for a given nation. Comprehensive tables collate data from multiple sources on freedom and human development in nations around the world.

Dr. Sharp argues that two fundamental strategies are necessary to create lasting peace in the world: facilitating the spread of democracy and maintaining comprehensive deterrence mechanisms targeted at individual world leaders. He surveys conventional approaches to avoiding war and presents evidence to validate the democratic peace principle (the notion that democracies are inherently more peaceful than nondemocracies) and the incentive theory of war avoidance, formulated by John Norton Moore. Dr. Sharp proposes a mathematical formula that can be used to predict the probability of peace for a given nation. Comprehensive tables collate data from multiple sources on freedom and human development in nations around the world.

The causes of armed conflict have historically been viewed in primarily sociological terms, with political, religious, economic, and military factors sharing primacy. Few have examined the causes of warfare in the context of a deterrence model or, specifically, the deterrence factors inherent in the checks and balances of a democratic state and the absence of such factors in the nondemocratic state. More significantly, none before Prof. John Norton Moore has argued the value of democratic principles in deterrence and conflict avoidance. In this important book, Dr. Gary Sharp analyzes the concepts in Moore's seminal work The War Puzzle (2005), which describes Moore's incentive theory of war avoidance. Sharp carefully dissects Moore's deterrence model and examines those incentives that discourage nondemocratic governments from pursuing violent conflicts. Arguing that existing democracies must make an active effort to foster the political environment in which new democracies can develop, Sharp discusses the elements critical to promoting democratization and thus strengthening systemwide deterrence at the state and international levels. Sharp also examines the incentives for conflict avoidance (internal checks and balances) inherent in the democratic state and their relationship to war avoidance. In examining current democracies and comparing them statistically to nondemocratic states, Sharp calculates an aggregated index value of democracy based upon respected databases that rank the jurisdictions of the world on political rights, civil liberties, media independence, religious freedom, economic freedom, and human development. Demonstrating through his analysis that democracies are inherently more peaceful because of the internal checks and balances on the aggressive use of force, Sharp similarly demonstrates how nondemocracies require external checks and balances to preclude aggression. Sharp's analysis and validation of Moore's incentive theory of war avoidance is critical to an understanding of those foreign policy strategies that the United States and other democratic nations must embrace as they attempt to reverse a course of history in which 38.5 million war deaths were recorded in the twentieth century alone. By demonstrating how democracy, economic freedom, and the rule of law provide essential mechanisms to deter leaders from precipitous decisions concerning the use of force, Sharp has provided an invaluable service to the statesman and international lawyer alike.

[Examines] "the causes of warfare in the context of a deterrence model, or, specifically, the deterrence factors inherent in the checks and balances of a democratic state and the absence of such factors in the nondemocratic state....Sharp analyzes the concepts in [John Norton] Moore's seminal work [Solving] the War Puzzle (2005 [i.e 2004]), which describes Moore's incentive theory of war avoidance" -- Forward (ix).

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.

Each Public Papers volume contains the papers and speeches of the President of the United States issued by the Office of the Press Secretary during the specified time period. The material is presented in chronological order, and the dates shown in the headings are the dates of the documents or events. In instances when the release date differs from the date of the document itself, that fact is shown in the text note. The appendixes in each Public Papers volume provide listings of a digest of the Presdient's daily schedule and meetings, when announced, and other items of general interest issed by the Officeof the Press Secretary; The President's nominations submitted to the Senate; A checklist of materials released by the Office of the Press Secretary that are not printed full-text in the book; and a table of Proclamations, Executive orders, and other Presidential documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary and published in the Federal Register.