The politics of multinational military operations

Abstract

Today, few countries fight alone; most fight as allies or partners in multilateral campaigns. The end of the Cold War opened a window of opportunity for multinational military operations (MMOs). These have seen varying degrees of participation, enthusiasm, and success. This special forum is devoted to the politics of multilateral warfare including their formation, maintenance, and durability. The introduction sketches past research and derives some key questions of continuing relevance. The contributions shed light on the domestic and international politics of MMOs, focusing on the implementation of national restrictions and their repercussions for MMOs, party politics of military intervention, the conditions under which states decide to defect from military operations, and the role of junior partners in MMOs. In sum, this forum offers a fresh look at the politics of MMOs, including conceptual contributions to the study of national restrictions, domestic constraints, and coalition warfare.One country may support another's cause, but will never take it so seriously as it takes its own. A moderately-sized force will be sent to its help; but if things go wrong the operation is pretty well written off, and one tries to withdraw at the smallest possible cost. (Von Clausewitz, 1984 [1832

National restrictions in multinational military operations: A conceptual framework

“…As pointed out by commentators and political decision-makers, some of these alliance and coalition operations are widely-affected by national restrictions. In line with the goals outlined for this special forum (Mello & Saideman, 2019), this article made a conceptual contribution to the emerging literature on the causes and consequences of various forms of national restrictions. I developed a conceptual framework that distinguishes between structural, procedural, and operational restrictions, arguing that these are governed by different causal mechanisms.…”

“…This article makes a conceptual contribution to the study of MMOs, in line with the aims of this special forum, as outlined in the introduction (Mello & Saideman, 2019). 3 Building on arguments developed in my book Democratic Participation in Armed Conflict (Mello, 2014), the article develops a conceptual framework of national restrictions that distinguishes between structural, procedural, and operational restrictions in MMOs.…”

Keeping Your Friends Close, but Acquaintances Closer: Why Weakly Allied States Make Committed Coalition Partners

“…Although the importance of theorizing differing contributions has been recognized in the context of US-led coalition efforts, this work has focused on single-dyad case studies. Scholars have recognized that these efforts would benefit from broader analysis that tests the generalizability of their findings (Mello and Saideman 2019, 4-5). Attempts to explain why countries contribute to alliances to varying degrees can be divided into four different categories; theories of collective action, the balance of threat, alliance dependence, and domestic politics (Bennett, Lepgold, and Unger 1994; Haesebrouck 2018).…”

Organizing for performance: coalition effectiveness on the battlefield

“…States, seeking to minimize their individual costs incurred during the pursuit of collective goods, strive to retain as much autonomy as possible. As a consequence, coalition members rarely accede to unity of command in a battle (Altfeld, 1984; Auerswald and Saideman, 2014; Bearce et al, 2006; Fonck et al, 2019; Frost-Nielsen, 2017; Mello and Saideman, 2019; Moller, 2016; Morrow, 1991, 2000; Saideman and Auerswald, 2012; Snyder, 1997; Weitsman, 2003b). Yet coalitions are effective in combat.…”