Conventional Deterrence

John J. Mearsheimer is R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is the author of many books, including Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics.

An intelligent, well-researched, and organized study.(Foreign Affairs) John Mearsheimer has got his timing just right. There is much current talk about the need to this and do that to bolster NATO's conventional forces, but there is no conceptual framework for assessing all these proposals. This is a carefully argued and well-written study that should immediately raise the quality of the debate. Most importantly, it draws effectively on history to illuminate contemporary problems.- Lawrence Freedman (New Republic) Mearsheimer offers a fine example of how defense policy analysis should be conducted. He demonstrates an excellent grasp of proportion and priority in concentrating on some of the most important yet understudied questions of deterrence and modern warfare. Why, he asks, are offensive strategies accepted or avoided by states facing the prospect of large-scale conventional war? In answering this question, Mearsheimer confronts other questions of politics and perceptions that the strategic nuclear deadlock has only accentuated. The historic and technical details are handled masterfully while lessons are drawn for assessing the pivotal military balance in central Europe. This is a sophisticated yet thoroughly lucid book worthy of careful attention by any student of U.S. national security policy.(Journal of Policy Analysis and Management)