National Behaviour in Multilateral Military Operations
| Date | 01 May 2018 |
| Published date | 01 May 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929915616288 |
| Author | Tim Haesebrouck |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929915616288
Political Studies Review
2018, Vol. 16(2) 102 –112
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929915616288
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National Behaviour in
Multilateral Military Operations
Tim Haesebrouck
Abstract
What accounts for the diverging contributions to multinational military operations? Over two
decades ago, Bennett, Lepgold and Unger published a seminal study that aimed to explain the
division of the burdens of the Desert Storm Coalition. This article reviews four recent monographs
on national behaviour in multinational operations against the backdrop of their conclusions. While
the four reviewed titles suggest that the bulk of the conclusions of Bennett, Lepgold and Unger’s
study hold beyond the scope of the Desert Storm Coalition, each of them also makes a distinct
contribution to the literature. Baltrusaitis offers three excellent case studies on burden sharing in
the 2003 Iraq War, Davidson provides essential insights on the impact of alliance value and threat
and the studies of Auerswald and Saideman and Mello invoke important domestic variables that
were not structurally examined by Bennett, Lepgold and Unger. Altogether, the reviewed titles
provide convincing explanations for the behaviour of democratic states in US-led operations.
Consequently, the article concludes by arguing that the most promising avenue for future research
would be to focus on military operations in which the United States has a more limited role and
on the contributions of non-democratic states to multinational operations.
Auerswald DP and Saideman SM (2014) NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting Alone.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Baltrusaitis DF (2010) Coalition Politics and the Iraq War: Determinants of Choice. Boulder, CO: First
Forum Press.
Davidson J (2011) America’s Allies and War: Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Mello P (2014) Democratic Participation in Armed Conflict Military Involvement in Kosovo, Afghanistan
and Iraq. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Keywords
foreign policy, military operations, burden sharing
Accepted: 6 September 2015
Department of Political Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Corresponding author:
Tim Haesebrouck, Department of Political Sciences, Ghent University, Universiteitstraat 8, 9000 Gent,
Belgium.
Email: tim.haesebrouck@ugent.be
616288PSW0010.1177/1478929915616288Political Studies ReviewHaesebrouck
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