•  
  •  

Home > Open Access Journals > JSS > Vol. 14 > No. 1 (2021)

 

Author Biography

Dr. Sandor Fabian is a former Hungarian Special Forces officer with 20 years of military service. Dr. Fabian is a faculty member at NATO`s Special Operations School and a research fellow at the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida. Before switching to academia Dr. Fabian served in multiple national and international positions including three years at the NATO Special Operations Headquarters and a combat tour in Afghanistan. Dr. Fabian`s research interest focuses on national security strategy and the transformation of warfare. Dr. Fabian is the author of the book titled “Irregular Warfare: The Future Military Strategy For Small States” and published several articles in peer-reviewed journals including the Defense and Security Analysis Journal, Special Operations Journal, and the Combating Terrorism Exchange Journal.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.14.1.1822

Subject Area Keywords

Foreign aid, Foreign policy, Military affairs, National security, Peace studies

Abstract

How do U.S. International Military Education and Training programs affect the recipient states` behavior in militarized interstate disputes? While the relationship between U.S. military aid in the form of arms and equipment transfer and MID involvement has been studied extensively in international relations literature the effects of U.S. IMET programs on the same phenomena has been largely ignored. This study intends to fill some of this gap. This paper proposes that American educated and trained foreign military personnel return home with a better understanding about the role of the military as an instrument of national power, civil-military relations, and the cost of war. These military personnel advise their political masters against the use of military force during international disputes leading to a decreased probability of both MID initiation and escalation. To test this argument the analysis employs a merged dataset from the Correlates of War Projects and the most prominent U.S. IMET and coups data. Using logistic regression analysis this study finds that more U.S. IMET support a country receives the less likely it initiates MIDs. The analysis also finds that countries that receive U.S. IMET support are less likely to escalate ongoing MIDs to higher levels of hostility.

Download

Share

COinS