Constructing International Security
Alliances, Deterrence, and Moral Hazard

Constructing International Security identifies effective third-party strategies for balancing deterrence and restraint in security relationships.

Brett V. Benson (Author)

9781107027244, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 October 2012

216 pages, 14 b/w illus.
2 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.42 kg

'In Constructing International Security, Brett V. Benson summons strong evidence and convincing logic to uncover important relationships between the content of alliance agreements and incentives for war. This research substantially advances our understanding of the effect of moral hazard on alliance behavior and its links to military conflict. Scholars and policy makers alike will find important insights throughout the pages of this book.' Kristopher W. Ramsay, Princeton University

Constructing International Security helps policy makers and students recognize effective third-party strategies for balancing deterrence and restraint in security relationships. Brett V. Benson shows that there are systematic differences among types of security commitments. Understanding these commitments is key, because commitments, such as formal military alliances and extended deterrence threats, form the basis of international security order. Benson argues that sometimes the optimal commitment conditions military assistance on specific hostile actions the adversary might take. At other times, he finds, it is best to be ambiguous by leaving an ally and adversary uncertain about whether the third party will intervene. Such uncertainty transfers risk to the ally, thereby reducing the ally's motivation to behave too aggressively. The choice of security commitment depends on how well defenders can observe hostilities leading to war and on their evaluations of dispute settlements, their ally's security and the relative strength of the defender.

1. Understanding the design of security commitments
2. A typology of third-party commitments
3. Time consistency and entrapment
4. Evidence of moral hazard in military alliances
5. A theory of commitment design
6. Testing the implications for alliance design
7. Deterrent commitments in East Asia
8. Constructing security in today's world.

Subject Areas: Diplomacy [JPSD], International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB], Military history [HBW]