1. Home
  3. International Relations
  5. Up in Arms: How Military Aid Stabilizes--And Destabilizes--Foreign Autocrats

Up in Arms: How Military Aid Stabilizes--And Destabilizes--Foreign Autocrats

Adam E. Casey

Hardcover

$32.00
$32.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Availability: In stock
SKU: 9781541604018
Collections:
Ingram Content GroupStories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind
Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind by Newitz, Annalee
We Win, They Lose: Republican Foreign Policy and the New Cold War by Kroenig, Matthew
Ingram Content GroupWe Win, They Lose: Republican Foreign Policy and the New Cold War
Up in Arms: How Military Aid Stabilizes--And Destabilizes--Foreign Autocrats by Casey, Adam E.
$32.00
$32.00
An "extraordinary...must-read" (Steven Levitsky, New York Times-bestselling coauthor of How Democracies Die) look at how support from foreign superpowers propped up--and pulled down--authoritarian regimes during the Cold War, offering lessons for today's great power competition

Throughout the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union competed to prop up friendly dictatorships abroad. Today, it is commonly assumed that this military aid enabled the survival of allied autocrats, from Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek to Ethiopia's Mengistu Haile Mariam.

In Up in Arms, political scientist Adam E. Casey rebuts the received wisdom: aid to autocracies often backfired during the Cold War. Casey draws on extensive original research to show that, despite billions poured into friendly regimes, US-backed dictators lasted in power no longer than those without outside help. In fact, American aid often unintentionally destabilized autocratic regimes. The United States encouraged foreign regimes to establish strong, independent armies like its own, but those armies often went on to lead coups themselves. By contrast, the Soviets promoted the subordination of the army to the ruling regime, neutralizing the threat of military takeover. Ultimately, Casey concludes, it is subservient militaries--not outside aid--that help autocrats maintain power.

In an era of renewed great power competition, Up in Arms offers invaluable insights into the unforeseen consequences of overseas meddling, revealing how military aid can help pull down dictators as often as it props them up.

Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 04/02/2024
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.29h x 5.91w x 1.34d
ISBN: 9781541604018


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2024
Library Journal 03/01/2024 pg. 115

About the Author

Adam E. Casey is an analyst in the United States government. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, and his research has been cited by the New York Times, the Economist, and Bloomberg, among others. He received his PhD in political science from the University of Toronto. A native of Minnesota, he lives in Maryland.