Exploitative friendships : manipulating asymmetric alliances

This dissertation is the first systematic analysis of variation in alliance behavior in the context of asymmetric international security alliances. When weak states ally with stronger states - i.e. states with significantly greater military capabilities - what explains differences in the junior party's approach to the alliance relationship? Why do some junior allies show their strong willingness to coordinate their military policy with their senior partner, whereas others distance themselves from their senior partner? Why do some grow more dependent on their senior partner for security, while others pursue their own deterrent to reduce their dependence? Their military dependence is not necessarily determined by structural factors, as states generally have some room for maneuver to decide on the level of resources they extract for national security from their overall economic and technological capacity.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Fukushima, Mayumi.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Richard J. Samuels.

• Political Science.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/130600

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/130600