Recent revelations that North Korea has maintained its nuclear weapon program in violation of prior international agreements highlight the adversarial relationship between Washington and Pyongyang.1 For 50 years, American foreign policy has tried to co-opt or shun North Korea, usually without success. Prior U.S. attempts at engagement have been halfhearted at best, often being nothing more than an opportunity for Pyongyang to extract concessions from the West. The United States should re-evaluate its approach toward North Korea and implement a comprehensive and integrated strategy that offers...

Instability in West Africa presents U.S. decision-makers with a conundrum. America's domestic imperative to avoid new entangling commitments abroad is tempered by the CNN effect - the need to "do something" to alleviate the plight of those affected by armed conflict. Responding to these contradictory pressures, successive U.S. administrations have advocated reliance on Africans to maintain peace and security on the continent. This approach, while consistent with Chapter VIII of the United Nations charter, has practical limitations. This book is focused on U.S. support for Nigerian military...

Suicide bombers are inspired and coached to their victims by al Qaeda and its franchises in Afghanistan, Iraq, Algeria, Yemen and beyond. Somali pirates disrupt shipping in the Indian Ocean, kidnapping civilians and extorting governments. Warlords terrorize the creeks of the Niger Delta as part of a "blood oil" trade. A quasi-religious drug cartel, La Familia, decapitates its way to control of Mexican drug trafficking routes. These violent non-state actors (VNSA), or armed groups, and others pervade the global conflict landscape. These conflicts pit nation-states against armed groups working...

President Harry Truman's dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur from Korea In 1951 occurred as a result of bureaucratic politics. For forty years, historians have portrayed this decision as a straight-forward conflict between two strong-willed individuals. In reality, the President's decision was a result of a breakdown in communication due to misconceptions, inadequate third party advice, and partisan politics.' The decision to dismiss General MacArthur will be analyzed using Graham T. Allison's Governmental Politics Paradigm. The model views government decisions as products of "compromise,...