Constructing Allied Cooperation

How do states overcome problems of collective action in the face of human atrocities, terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction? How does international burden-sharing in this context look like? This book addresses these questions. It demonstrates that coalitions do not emerge naturally; rather, pivotal states deliberately build them. They develop operational plans and bargain suitable third parties into the coalition. Pulling apart the strategy behind multilateral military coalition-building, the book looks at the ramifications and side effects as well. Via these ties, pivotal states have access to private information on the deployment preferences of potential coalition participants. Moreover, they facilitate issue-linkages and side-payments and allow states to overcome problems of credible commitments. Finally, pivotal states can use common institutional contacts as cooperation brokers, and they can convert common institutional venues into fora for negotiating coalitions. The theory and evidence presented force us to revisit the conventional wisdom on how cooperation in multilateral military operations comes about. The book generates new insights with respect to who is most likely to join a given multilateral intervention, what factors influence the strength and capacity of individual coalitions, and what diplomacy and diplomatic ties are good for. Moreover, as the Trump administration promotes an “America First” policy and withdraws from international agreements and the United Kingdom completes Brexit, this book is an important reminder that international security cannot be delinked from more mundane forms of cooperation; multilateral military coalitions thrive or fail depending on the breadth and depth of existing social and diplomatic networks.