H-Diplo with the Jervis Forum (@h-diplo)

Jervis Forum Review 172: Evangelista on Kramer, Apocalyptic Crimes Nuclear weapons have been around for over 80 years. Is there anything new to be written about them? In particular, would H-Diplo readers knowledgeable about the topic find it worth their while to read a new book on the legality of nuclear weapons? In the case of Ronald C. Kramer’s Apocalyptic Crimes: Why Nuclear Weapons are Illegal and Must Be Abolished,

Jervis Forum Review 172: Evangelista on Kramer, Apocalyptic Crimes

Nuclear weapons have been around for over 80 years. Is there anything new to be written about them? In particular, would H-Diplo readers knowledgeable about the topic find it worth their while to read a new book on the legality of…

05.03.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Article Review 189: McLaughlin on Maguire, et al., “Round table for the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, Part I” Not long ago comedian Hasan Minhaj dropped a pithy line in one of his specials that would sum up why so many scholars first got into Vietnam War history: “every president in my lifetime goes into office a sociopath and then leaves a war criminal.”[1] Think for just a moment about the Vietnam legacies of every occupant of the White House from Harry Truman through Gerald Ford and one will inevitably find oneself nodding in agreement.

Jervis Forum Article Review 189: McLaughlin on Maguire, et al., “Round table for the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, Part I”

Not long ago comedian Hasan Minhaj dropped a pithy line in one of his specials that would sum up why so many scholars first got into Vietnam War history: “every…

03.03.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-28 on Fuhrmann, Influence Without Arms Matthew Fuhrmann’s Influence Without Arms is an ambitious, wide-ranging analysis of the role of nuclear latency in international politics. Scholarly investigation of the topic has been growing over the past decade, but there are few book-length examinations of how states use the technological capacity to build nuclear weapons to secure their foreign policy interests.

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-28 on Fuhrmann, Influence Without Arms

Matthew Fuhrmann’s Influence Without Arms is an ambitious, wide-ranging analysis of the role of nuclear latency in international politics. Scholarly investigation of the topic has been growing over the past decade, but there are few…

02.03.2026 05:51 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 171: Ermolaeva on Faure, The Rise of the Russian Hawks Was there, in fact, a “previously deliberated plan,” and does it remain in effect today? This question lies at the heart of contemporary Russian studies, as scholars seek to unravel the phenomenon most often described as “modern Russian ideology” in order to grasp its inner historical logic and to articulate the methods by which it operates.

Jervis Forum Review 171: Ermolaeva on Faure, The Rise of the Russian Hawks

Was there, in fact, a “previously deliberated plan,” and does it remain in effect today? This question lies at the heart of contemporary Russian studies, as scholars seek to unravel the phenomenon most often described as…

26.02.2026 05:06 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 170: Oakley on Coll, The Achilles Trap Steve Coll, who is the author of Ghost Wars and Directorate S, has once again provided readers with an engaging and well-researched book on US policy in the Middle East; this time on the factors that led to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.[1] The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq…

Jervis Forum Review 170: Oakley on Coll, The Achilles Trap

Steve Coll, who is the author of Ghost Wars and Directorate S, has once again provided readers with an engaging and well-researched book on US policy in the Middle East; this time on the factors that led to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.[1]…

25.02.2026 05:01 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-27 on Kirby and Shepherd, Governing the Feminist Peace H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Roundtable Review 17-27 Paul Kirby and Laura J. Shepherd, Governing the Feminist Peace: The Vitality and Failure of the Women, Peace…

The Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-27
Paul Kirby and Laura J. Shepherd’s Governing the Feminist Peace: The Vitality and Failure of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda
“a closer look on how and if WPS can continue to carry this weight is in order.” –Jamie J. Hagen
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23.02.2026 15:15 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-27 on Kirby and Shepherd, Governing the Feminist Peace Paul Kirby and Laura J. Shepherd’s Governing the Feminist Peace is an engagement with, and evaluation of, the complexities of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda 25 years into its tenure by two scholars who have been at the forefront of its study over much of that time. It argues that previous research on WPS has several shortcomings that get in the way of scholars having a full picture of the agenda’s complexities.

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-27 on Kirby and Shepherd, Governing the Feminist Peace

Paul Kirby and Laura J. Shepherd’s Governing the Feminist Peace is an engagement with, and evaluation of, the complexities of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda 25 years into its tenure by two scholars who…

23.02.2026 05:01 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 2

Jervis Forum Review 169: Snyder on Roman, The Black Panthers and the Soviets H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Review 169 Meredith Roman The Black Panthers and the Soviets: A Comparative History of Human Rights Movements. Bloomsbury Academic, 2025.

Jervis Forum Review 169
Meredith Roman The Black Panthers and the Soviets: A Comparative History of Human Rights Movements
“highlight(s) the ways white Americans may have overlooked the negative experiences that many of their fellow citizens have had with the police”–Sarah B. Snyder
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19.02.2026 14:41 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 169: Snyder on Roman, The Black Panthers and the Soviets New York Times journalist Harrison Salisbury interviewed Soviet dissident Valery Chalidze in 1973, and the two discussed the emotions that citizens in each country experienced toward the police. For his part, Salisbury suggested that Americans had no reason to fear the police. Historian Meredith Roman uses this exchange to highlight the ways white Americans may have overlooked the negative experiences that many of their fellow citizens have had with the police and ways in which they did not see parallels between those fighting for human rights in the Soviet Union and the United States.

Jervis Forum Review 169: Snyder on Roman, The Black Panthers and the Soviets

New York Times journalist Harrison Salisbury interviewed Soviet dissident Valery Chalidze in 1973, and the two discussed the emotions that citizens in each country experienced toward the police. For his part, Salisbury…

19.02.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Roundtable Review 17-26 Martin Senn and Carmen Wunderlich, eds., “The Complexity of Nuclear (Dis)Ordering.” The national security risk of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the 1960s, which was heralded inter alia by the Chinese nuclear test in 1964 and the relative ease of the new technique of gas centrifuge uranium enrichment, led a number of states to define “numerous rules governing the acquisition, possession, and use of nuclear technologies with the aim of containing the spread of nuclear weapons, preventing their use, promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy and ensuring safety in them.”

Roundtable Review 17-26 Martin Senn and Carmen Wunderlich, eds., “The Complexity of Nuclear (Dis)Ordering.”

The national security risk of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the 1960s, which was heralded inter alia by the Chinese nuclear test in 1964 and the relative ease of the new technique…

19.02.2026 01:27 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

Jervis Forum Review 168: Givens on Lebovic, State of Silence H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Review 168 Sam Lebovic, State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America’s Secrecy Regime. Basic Books, 2023. ISBN…

Jervis Forum Review 168
Sam Lebovic’s State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America’s Secrecy Regime
“many Americans increasingly doubt the honesty, transparency, and processes of government institutions and officials.” –Cameron Givens and Christopher McKnight Nichols
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17.02.2026 14:19 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 168: Givens on Lebovic, State of Silence The messy history of the US secrecy regime—its legal peregrinations, frequent oversteps, and steady expansion over the last century into an unwieldy labyrinth of various statutes, executive orders, and bureaucratic practices—shines a clear spotlight on one of the delicate balancing acts of democratic life. While the government must keep certain information secret from its citizens for obvious national security reasons, the citizenry must be sufficiently informed if the consent of the governed is to mean much of anything.

Jervis Forum Review 168: Givens on Lebovic, State of Silence

The messy history of the US secrecy regime—its legal peregrinations, frequent oversteps, and steady expansion over the last century into an unwieldy labyrinth of various statutes, executive orders, and bureaucratic practices—shines a…

17.02.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The Jervis Forum Roundtable Review 17-26
Martin Senn and Carmen Wunderlich, eds. “The Complexity of Nuclear (Dis)Ordering”
“What is the nuclear order; what role does complexity play in strengthening or weakening this order” –Colleen Larkin
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16.02.2026 16:55 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

FOIS Ep. 6: Causes of War with Erik Gartzke YouTube video by The Jervis Forum

Episode 6 of the Frontiers of International Security (FOIS) podcast on “Causes of War,” with Erik Gartzke, University of California, San Diego, is available here: youtube.com/watch?v=MOcf...

13.02.2026 15:29 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

FOIS Ep. 6: “Causes of War” with Erik Gartzke H-Diplo and the Jervis Forum are pleased to release Episode 6 of our podcast series, Frontiers of International Security (FOIS). In this episode, host Joe Parent talks about Causes of War with Erik Gartzke, University of California, San Diego: FOIS Ep. 6: “Causes of War” with Erik Gartzke, University of California, San Diego The FOIS YouTube channel can be found at With best regards, Diane Labrosse and Joe Parent

FOIS Ep. 6: “Causes of War” with Erik Gartzke

H-Diplo and the Jervis Forum are pleased to release Episode 6 of our podcast series, Frontiers of International Security (FOIS). In this episode, host Joe Parent talks about Causes of War with Erik Gartzke, University of California, San Diego: FOIS Ep.…

13.02.2026 05:01 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 167: Latif on Lopes, The Self-Deception Trap The title of Carlos Lopes’s book is provocative. It arrives at a critical time in Europe-Africa relations, as traditional aid frameworks expire and new partnerships struggle to emerge from colonial shadows. Drawing on his experience as African Union (AU) High Representative for Partnerships with Europe (2018–2021), Lopes offers both insider testimony and a scholarly analysis of what he diagnoses as mutual self-deception that perpetuates dysfunctional relationships between the two continents (9).

Jervis Forum Review 167: Latif on Lopes, The Self-Deception Trap

The title of Carlos Lopes’s book is provocative. It arrives at a critical time in Europe-Africa relations, as traditional aid frameworks expire and new partnerships struggle to emerge from colonial shadows. Drawing on his experience…

12.02.2026 05:01 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 166: Beeler on Lambert, No More Napoleons For more than four decades Andrew Lambert, John Knox Laughton Professor of Naval History in the War Studies Department of Kings College, has been challenging and overturning many of the presumed verities regarding the nineteenth century British naval policy and the Royal Navy. In this latest book he ties together the several strands of his on-going research into an all-encompassing framework, and a stimulating, perhaps provocative, set of arguments (7).

Jervis Forum Review 166: Beeler on Lambert, No More Napoleons

For more than four decades Andrew Lambert, John Knox Laughton Professor of Naval History in the War Studies Department of Kings College, has been challenging and overturning many of the presumed verities regarding the nineteenth century…

10.02.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-25 on Shirk, Making War on the World Is the modern nation-state waning in significance or durably cementing itself as the dominant mode of political organization? This question is at the heart of Making War on the World: How Transnational Violence Reshapes Global Order, and Mark Shirk’s answer is that we need not think of the nation-state’s role in global political life in such binary terms.[1]

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-25 on Shirk, Making War on the World

Is the modern nation-state waning in significance or durably cementing itself as the dominant mode of political organization? This question is at the heart of Making War on the World: How Transnational Violence Reshapes Global Order,…

09.02.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 165: Bell on Edelstein, The Revolution to Come Dan Edelstein has written a truly important work of history—in my view, one of the most important of the decade. On one level, it is the most complete and persuasive history we have of the concept of “revolution,” across the sweep of Western history from the Greeks to the present. This achievement, hard won from research in an impressively voluminous source base, would already be cause for celebration.

Jervis Forum Review 165: Bell on Edelstein, The Revolution to Come

Dan Edelstein has written a truly important work of history—in my view, one of the most important of the decade. On one level, it is the most complete and persuasive history we have of the concept of “revolution,” across the sweep…

06.02.2026 05:03 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

FOIS Ep. 5: “The Future of Warfare” with Christopher J. Fettweis H-Diplo and the Jervis Forum are pleased to release Episode 5 of our podcast series, Frontiers of International Security (FOIS). In this episode, host Joe Parent talks about The Future of War with Christopher J. Fettweis, Tulane University: FOIS Ep. 5: “The Future of Warfare” with Christopher J. Fettweis The FOIS YouTube channel can be found at With best regards, Diane Labrosse and Joe Parent

FOIS Ep. 5: “The Future of Warfare” with Christopher J. Fettweis

H-Diplo and the Jervis Forum are pleased to release Episode 5 of our podcast series, Frontiers of International Security (FOIS). In this episode, host Joe Parent talks about The Future of War with Christopher J. Fettweis, Tulane…

06.02.2026 05:03 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Article Review 188: Schendzielorz on Egeland, “The ‘Cosmic Bluff’ Revisited” H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Article Review 188 Kjølv Egeland. “The ‘Cosmic Bluff’ Revisited: Extended Nuclear Deterrence in the US–Norway Alliance…

Article Review 188
Kjølv Egeland’s “The ‘Cosmic Bluff’ Revisited: Extended Nuclear Deterrence in the US–Norway Alliance”
“interrogates the widely held belief that smaller states seek a nuclear patron when facing potentially existential military threats” –Konstantin Schendzielorz
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05.02.2026 15:42 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Article Review 188: Schendzielorz on Egeland, “The ‘Cosmic Bluff’ Revisited” In “The ‘Cosmic Bluff’ Revisited” (2025), Kjølv Egeland offers a compelling reassessment of the core assumptions underpinning extended nuclear deterrence (END), the so-called nuclear umbrella. Focusing on US-Norwegian relations as a “crucial case,” Egeland interrogates the widely held belief that smaller states seek a nuclear patron when facing potentially existential military threats. He contests the assumption that such relationships require the client state’s genuine belief in the credibility of the nuclear umbrella.

Jervis Forum Article Review 188: Schendzielorz on Egeland, “The ‘Cosmic Bluff’ Revisited”

In “The ‘Cosmic Bluff’ Revisited” (2025), Kjølv Egeland offers a compelling reassessment of the core assumptions underpinning extended nuclear deterrence (END), the so-called nuclear umbrella. Focusing on…

05.02.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The Jervis Forum Review 164
Matthieu Grandpierron’s Nostalgic Virility as a Cause of War: How Leaders of Great Powers Cope with Status Decline
“wars...can be justified on basis of a nation’s global mission...if the mission is part of a historical master-narrative.” –Andreas Leutzsch
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04.02.2026 15:21 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 164: Leutzsch on Grandpierron, Nostalgic Virility as a Cause of War Matthieu Grandpierron’s Nostalgic Virility as a Cause of War: How Leaders of Great Powers Cope with Status Decline deals with the theoretical development and empirical verification of the concept of “status-seeking and nostalgic virility.” It does so by comparing the impact of “virile” phrases and concepts as indicators of discursive strategies as well as factors in decision-making processes within the mainstream frameworks of the “diversionary theory of war” (DTW) and the “realist-strategic theories” (12).

Jervis Forum Review 164: Leutzsch on Grandpierron, Nostalgic Virility as a Cause of War

Matthieu Grandpierron’s Nostalgic Virility as a Cause of War: How Leaders of Great Powers Cope with Status Decline deals with the theoretical development and empirical verification of the concept of…

04.02.2026 05:01 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

H-Diplo Article Review 1259
Christina Schwenkel's “Development through Dispossession: Coffee as Mutual Aid between Vietnam and East Germany”
“a postcolonial critique of the continued one-sidedness of the scholarly literature on the Cold War struggle” –Ken MacLean
hdiplo.org/to/AR1259

03.02.2026 15:50 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-24 on Khalil, A World of Enemies H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Roundtable Review 17-24 Osamah F. Khalil, A World of Enemies: America’s Wars at Home and Abroad from Kennedy to Biden.

The Jervis Forum Roundtable Review 17-24
Osamah F. Khalil’s A World of Enemies: America’s Wars at Home and Abroad from Kennedy to Biden
“Under...Donald Trump, the lines between the war on drugs and the war on terror have become increasingly indistinguishable” –Henry Richard Maar III
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02.02.2026 18:56 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-24 on Khalil, A World of Enemies Under the second administration of Donald Trump, the lines between the war on drugs and the war on terror have become increasingly indistinguishable. This is perhaps most noticeable in the administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy.[1] The strategy reasserts American hegemony in the Caribbean, modifying the 1823 Monroe Doctrine with the Trump Corollary. In Venezuela, the administration has brought what President Trump has described as “the largest Armada ever assembled in the history of South America” to the Caribbean.

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-24 on Khalil, A World of Enemies

Under the second administration of Donald Trump, the lines between the war on drugs and the war on terror have become increasingly indistinguishable. This is perhaps most noticeable in the administration’s 2025 National Security…

02.02.2026 05:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

FOIS Ep. 4: “The One about Sovereignty” with Bridget Coggins H-Diplo and the Jervis Forum are pleased to release Episode 4 of our podcast series, Frontiers of International Security (FOIS). In this episode, host Joe Parent talks about Sovereignty with Bridget Coggins, University of California, Santa Barbara: FOIS: Ep. 4: “The One about Sovereignty” with Bridget Coggins The FOIS YouTube channel can be found at With best regards, Diane Labrosse and Joe Parent

FOIS Ep. 4: “The One about Sovereignty” with Bridget Coggins

H-Diplo and the Jervis Forum are pleased to release Episode 4 of our podcast series, Frontiers of International Security (FOIS). In this episode, host Joe Parent talks about Sovereignty with Bridget Coggins, University of California,…

31.01.2026 23:12 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

FOIS Ep. 4: The One about Sovereignty with Bridget Coggins YouTube video by The Jervis Forum

Episode 4 of the Frontiers of International Security (FOIS) podcast on “The One about Sovereignty,” with Bridget Coggins, University of California, Santa Barbara, is available here: youtube.com/watch?v=IKtJ...

30.01.2026 15:52 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jervis Forum Review 163: Murray on Visoka, The Derecognition of States H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Review 163 Gëzim Visoka, The Derecognition of States (University of Michigan Press, 2024). ISBN: 9780472057092. 29 January 2026 | PDF…

The Jervis Forum Review 163
Gëzim Visoka’s The Derecognition of States
“builds an inductive theory of state derecognition that sees it as a highly unstable political practice shaped by geopolitical conditions and the self-interest of the (de)recognizing state” –Michelle Murray
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30.01.2026 15:50 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

H-Diplo with the Jervis Forum

Latest posts by H-Diplo with the Jervis Forum @h-diplo