Creating Military Power: The Impact of Culture, Society, Institutions and International Forces on Military Effectiveness

A Book Project Organized by Risa Brooks, Assistant Professor of Political Science

Funded by a grant from The Searle Foundation

Why are some states, at some times, better able to translate their basic material and human strengths into fighting power? At the core of this study is an effort to understand why states exhibit important differences in their capacities to create military power. It examines the sources of states' military effectiveness.

The study's overarching argument is that states' global environments and the particularities of their cultures, social structures and political institutions often affect how they organize and prepare for war, and ultimately their effectiveness in battle. The creation of military power is only partially dependent on states' basic material and human assets. Wealth, technology and human capital certainly matter for a country's ability to create military power. Equally important, however, are how a state uses those resources, which often depends on the political and social environment in which military activity takes place. As such this study addresses a diversity of factors that affect military activity, which are beyond the traditional realm of military analysis.

Specifically, the project builds upon two central questions. First, what is an effective military? Perhaps not surprisingly, no real consensus exists about how to define military effectiveness, let alone how to measure it. In this book we develop an explicit definition and framework for evaluating a military's effectiveness. All of the chapters in the book use this common definition and framework

Second, what are the variable causes of states' military effectiveness? To date, most research on military effectiveness has been somewhat narrow in its level of analysis and analytical focus (see the literature review in the introductory chapter for details). Accordingly, the second goal of the project is to draw upon participants' research expertise to examine a diverse array of "causes" of military effectiveness. These factors include:

Although some of these potential causes of military effectiveness have been examined individually before, there have been few attempts to draw together so many diverse causes and examine them using a common framework and definition of military effectiveness, such as the one we propose in this project.

The resulting product of this research, to be published as an edited volume by an academic press, will fill a major gap in the existing literature. Specifically, we expect it will make three important contributions. First, it will provide the theoretical foundation for a wider research agenda about military effectiveness and related topics because it will develop a general definition and framework for thinking about the issues. In recent years there has been growing interest in studying military effectiveness among political scientists, in particular. Yet there exists no current, comprehensive treatment of the subject that can form the foundation for future studies. We intend this book to fill that gap. Second, as a one-volume treatment of military effectiveness, the book will have potential as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in international security, as well as for professional military education (e.g. service academies and senior service colleges). Third, we hope this book will contribute to current policy debates about defense transformation and the use of military force.The book is uniquely positioned to appeal both to a practically-minded, soft academic audience as well as analytically inclined scholars.

For further information, contact Risa Brooks r-brooks3@northwestern.edu