Security Experts

Academic security experts, that is. They have some, er, questions about the handling of the intervention in Iraq. Via Brad Delong comes this letter, signed by 698 scholars of international security. The group calls itself Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy.

The results of this policy have been overwhelmingly negative for U.S. interests. While the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime was desirable, the benefit to the U.S. was small as prewar inspections had already proven the extreme weakness of his WMD programs, and therefore the small size of the threat he posed. On the negative side, the excessive U.S. focus on Iraq led to weak and inadequate responses to the greater challenges posed by North Korea’s and Iran’s nuclear programs, and diverted resources from the economic and diplomatic efforts needed to fight terrorism in its breeding grounds in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Worse, American actions in Iraq, including but not limited to the scandal of Abu Ghraib, have harmed the reputation of the U.S. in most parts of the Middle East and, according to polls, made Osama Bin Laden more popular in some countries than is President Bush. This increased popularity makes it easier for al-Qaida to raise money, attract recruits, and carry out its terrorist operations than would otherwise be the case.

Read the whole thing. Regrettably, I was not invited to co-sign :(

Not to belabor the point, but here are some of the scholars involved:

Robert Art, Brandeis, co-author of The Use of Force
Deborah Avant, George Washington, author of Political Institutions and Military Change
David Baldwin, Columbia, editor of Neorealism and Neoliberalism
Richard K. Betts, Columbia, author of Military Readiness: Concepts, Choices, and Consequences
Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, NYU/Stanford, author of The War Trap
Barry Buzan, London School of Economics, author of People, States, and Fear
James Caparaso, Washington, author of The European Union: Dilemmas of Regional Integration
Neta Crawford, Brown, editor of Argument and Change in World Politics
Michael C. Desch, Texas A&M, author of Civilian Control of the Military
Michael C. Doyle, Columbia, author of Ways of War and Peace
Lynn Eden, Stanford, author of Whole World on Fire
Martha Finnemore, George Washinton, author of The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs on the Use of Force
Charles Glaser, Chicago, author and Analyzing Strategic Nuclear Policy
Peter M. Haas, Massachusetts-Amherst, author of Knowledge, Power, and International Policy Coordination
Rodney Bruce Hall, Oxford, editor of The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance
Ted Hopf, Ohio State, author of Understandings of Russian Foreign Policy
Robert Jervis, Columbia, author of Perception and Misperception in International Politics
Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell, editor of The Culture of National Security
Robert Keohane, Duke, author of After Hegemony
Elizabeth Kier (Yay!), Washington, author of Imagining War
David Kinsella, Portland State, author of Regime Change: Origins, Execution, and Aftermath of the Iraq War
David Lake, San Diego, author of Entangling Relations
Richard Ned Lebow, Dartmouth, author of International Relations Theory and the End of the Cold War
Margaret Levi, Washington, author of Of Rule and Revenue
Karen Litfin, Washington, author of Ozone Discourses
Stephen J. Majeski, Washington, all around great guy
Lisa Martin, Harvard, author of Coercive Cooperation
John J. Mearsheimer, Chicago, author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
Jonathan Mercer (Yay!), Washington, author of Reputation and International Politics
Ronald Mitchell, Oregon, author of Intentional Oil Pollution at Sea
Nicholas Onuf, Florida International, author of World of Our Making
Robert Pape, Chicago, author of Bombing to Win
Barry Posen, MIT, author of The Sources of Military Doctrine
Robert Putnam, Harvard, author of Bowling Alone
Ronald Rogowski, UCLA, author of Commerce and Coalitions
Scott Sagan, Stanford, author of The Limits of Safety
J. David Singer, Michigan, author of Nations at War
Theda Skocpol, Harvard, author of States and Social Revolutions
Jack Snyder, Columbia, author of The Ideology of the Offensive
Steven Van Evera, MIT, author of Causes of War
Stephen M. Walt, Harvard, author of The Origins of Alliances
Kenneth Waltz, Berkeley, author of Theory of International Politics

Many more, but the point is made. No problem with the International Relations Field Exam if you’re familiar with the names and works on this list. These names come from every corner of the field, every methodological, epistemological, and ontological approach. George W. Bush can get them to agree on something. Who says he’s not a uniter?