Paul Poast
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Protecting Their Own? The Real Reasons States Build Border Walls
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Why do some nations build walls along their borders? In some cases, such walls are defensive structures aimed at blunting potential military incursions from a hostile neighbor, which was true for the Maginot Line between France and Germany, as well as for the Great Wall of China. However, many of…
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Why Do Former Rivals Form Non-Aggression Pacts?
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Non-aggression pacts, designed to reduce the possibility of future conflict, are distinctive from other military alliances because they do not necessitate active coordination between signatories. However, what they do have in common with other types of alliances is that they allow for the involvement of third parties. Besides recognizing mutual…
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How Should We Understand Alliance Formation in a Multilateral World?
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For several decades, bilateral modeling has been the central tool in much of the theoretical and empirical research on alliance formation. Theoretical investigations into alliance formation were traditionally rooted in dyadic game-theoretical frameworks that feature two primary parties. For example, these models might examine the trade-off of an alliance relationship…