Zack Cooper
Biographic Data
| ID | 3823282 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Zack Cooper |
| GIVEN NAMES | Zack |
| FAMILY NAME | Cooper |
| SIGNATURE | COOPER Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | Center for Strategic and International Studies |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3270-2464 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 117 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Focus versus format: An American view of South Korea's regional engagement
The United States and South Korea are both shifting their engagement in the Indo‐Pacific, but in fundamentally different ways. In recent years, Washington has altered the format of its engagement in the region—shifting toward an increasingly minilateral approach seen in the Quad and AUKUS arrangements. On the other hand, Seoul has sought primarily to alter the focus of its engagement—shifting from a narrow focus on the Korean Peninsula toward a b…
US perspectives on the power shift in the Indo-Pacific
This essay examines four schools of thought about US strategy in Asia, particularly regarding China. These four viewpoints—here termed the responsible stakeholder, communist collapse, constructive cooperation, and managed competition schools—are determined largely by the answers to two questions. First, to what degree should US policies focus on integrating China into the international order, versus mitigating the consequences of China’s rise? Se…
Sino-Russian Splits: Divergences in Autocratic Coercion
Arms, Alliances, and Patron-Client Relationships
In “To Arm or to Ally?” Keren Yarhi-Milo, Alexander Lanoszka, and Zack Cooper present an elegant and powerful theory that explains conditions under which a great power (in their case, the United States) offers a client state arms, an alliance commitment, or both.1 Their article does not give due attention, however, to what motivates a patron to provide security assistance to clients in the first place—especially its desire to influence its client…
The Price Ain't Right? Hospital Prices and Health Spending on the Privately Insured
We use insurance claims data covering 28% of individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance in the United States to study the variation in health spending on the privately insured, examine the structure of insurer-hospital contracts, and analyze the variation in hospital prices across the nation. Health spending per privately insured beneficiary differs by a factor of three across geographic areas and has a very low correlation with Medicar…
Thinking clearly about China’s layered Indo-Pacific strategy
Despite China’s traditional role as a continental power, modern Chinese leaders are pursuing a grand strategy that includes the explicit goal of becoming a maritime power. China is strengthening its ability to deny its “near seas” (the Yellow, East China, and South China Seas) to US forces and building the capabilities and infrastructure to project power into “far seas” that lie beyond these waters. Yet Beijing is doing so without crossing the th…
To Arm or to Ally? The Patron's Dilemma and the Strategic Logic of Arms Transfers and Alliances
How do great powers decide whether to provide arms to or form alliances with client states? This “patron's dilemma” revolves around a decision about how to best provide security to clients without becoming entrapped in unwanted conflicts. Strong commitments worsen the risk of entrapment, whereas weak commitments intensify fears of abandonment. This traditional alliance dilemma can be addressed through the provision of arms and alliances. Great po…
Reassessing Hedging: The Logic of Alignment in East Asia
It is widely claimed that secondary states across East Asia are not purely balancing or bandwagoning, but rather hedging between the United States and China by combining policies of economic and political engagement with risk management. We argue that hedging behavior should not include costless activities that do not require states to face trade-offs in their security choices. We redefine hedging as signaling that generates ambiguity over the ex…
Revitalizing the Rebalance: How to Keep U.S. Focus on Asia
In November 2011, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would rebalance to the Asia–Pacific region.1 Although this shift had been underway for years, experts across the Pacific ge
Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence from the English NHS Patient Choice Reforms
Recent substantive reforms to the English National Health Service expanded patient choice and encouraged hospitals to compete within a market with fixed prices. This study investigates whether these reforms led to improvements in hospital quality. We use a difference-in-difference-style estimator to test whether hospital quality (measured using mortality from acute myocardial infarction) improved more quickly in more competitive markets after the…
The Price Ain't Right? Hospital Prices and Health Spending on the Privately Insured
We use insurance claims data covering 28% of individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance in the United States to study the variation in health spending on the privately insured, examine the structure of insurer-hospital contracts, and analyze the variation in hospital prices across the nation. Health spending per privately insured beneficiary differs by a factor of three across geographic areas and has a very low correlation with Medicar…
Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence from the English NHS Patient Choice Reforms
Recent substantive reforms to the English National Health Service expanded patient choice and encouraged hospitals to compete within a market with fixed prices. This study investigates whether these reforms led to improvements in hospital quality. We use a difference-in-difference-style estimator to test whether hospital quality (measured using mortality from acute myocardial infarction) improved more quickly in more competitive markets after the…
To Arm or to Ally? The Patron's Dilemma and the Strategic Logic of Arms Transfers and Alliances
How do great powers decide whether to provide arms to or form alliances with client states? This “patron's dilemma” revolves around a decision about how to best provide security to clients without becoming entrapped in unwanted conflicts. Strong commitments worsen the risk of entrapment, whereas weak commitments intensify fears of abandonment. This traditional alliance dilemma can be addressed through the provision of arms and alliances. Great po…
Reassessing Hedging: The Logic of Alignment in East Asia
It is widely claimed that secondary states across East Asia are not purely balancing or bandwagoning, but rather hedging between the United States and China by combining policies of economic and political engagement with risk management. We argue that hedging behavior should not include costless activities that do not require states to face trade-offs in their security choices. We redefine hedging as signaling that generates ambiguity over the ex…
Focus versus format: An American view of South Korea's regional engagement
The United States and South Korea are both shifting their engagement in the Indo‐Pacific, but in fundamentally different ways. In recent years, Washington has altered the format of its engagement in the region—shifting toward an increasingly minilateral approach seen in the Quad and AUKUS arrangements. On the other hand, Seoul has sought primarily to alter the focus of its engagement—shifting from a narrow focus on the Korean Peninsula toward a b…
Revitalizing the Rebalance: How to Keep U.S. Focus on Asia
In November 2011, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would rebalance to the Asia–Pacific region.1 Although this shift had been underway for years, experts across the Pacific ge
Does Hospital Competition Save Lives? Evidence from the English NHS Patient Choice Reforms
Recent substantive reforms to the English National Health Service expanded patient choice and encouraged hospitals to compete within a market with fixed prices. This study investigates whether these reforms led to improvements in hospital quality. We use a difference-in-difference-style estimator to test whether hospital quality (measured using mortality from acute myocardial infarction) improved more quickly in more competitive markets after the…
Revitalizing the Rebalance: How to Keep U.S. Focus on Asia
In November 2011, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would rebalance to the Asia–Pacific region.1 Although this shift had been underway for years, experts across the Pacific ge
Reassessing Hedging: The Logic of Alignment in East Asia
It is widely claimed that secondary states across East Asia are not purely balancing or bandwagoning, but rather hedging between the United States and China by combining policies of economic and political engagement with risk management. We argue that hedging behavior should not include costless activities that do not require states to face trade-offs in their security choices. We redefine hedging as signaling that generates ambiguity over the ex…
To Arm or to Ally? The Patron's Dilemma and the Strategic Logic of Arms Transfers and Alliances
How do great powers decide whether to provide arms to or form alliances with client states? This “patron's dilemma” revolves around a decision about how to best provide security to clients without becoming entrapped in unwanted conflicts. Strong commitments worsen the risk of entrapment, whereas weak commitments intensify fears of abandonment. This traditional alliance dilemma can be addressed through the provision of arms and alliances. Great po…
Thinking clearly about China’s layered Indo-Pacific strategy
Despite China’s traditional role as a continental power, modern Chinese leaders are pursuing a grand strategy that includes the explicit goal of becoming a maritime power. China is strengthening its ability to deny its “near seas” (the Yellow, East China, and South China Seas) to US forces and building the capabilities and infrastructure to project power into “far seas” that lie beyond these waters. Yet Beijing is doing so without crossing the th…
Arms, Alliances, and Patron-Client Relationships
In “To Arm or to Ally?” Keren Yarhi-Milo, Alexander Lanoszka, and Zack Cooper present an elegant and powerful theory that explains conditions under which a great power (in their case, the United States) offers a client state arms, an alliance commitment, or both.1 Their article does not give due attention, however, to what motivates a patron to provide security assistance to clients in the first place—especially its desire to influence its client…
The Price Ain't Right? Hospital Prices and Health Spending on the Privately Insured
We use insurance claims data covering 28% of individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance in the United States to study the variation in health spending on the privately insured, examine the structure of insurer-hospital contracts, and analyze the variation in hospital prices across the nation. Health spending per privately insured beneficiary differs by a factor of three across geographic areas and has a very low correlation with Medicar…
US perspectives on the power shift in the Indo-Pacific
This essay examines four schools of thought about US strategy in Asia, particularly regarding China. These four viewpoints—here termed the responsible stakeholder, communist collapse, constructive cooperation, and managed competition schools—are determined largely by the answers to two questions. First, to what degree should US policies focus on integrating China into the international order, versus mitigating the consequences of China’s rise? Se…
Sino-Russian Splits: Divergences in Autocratic Coercion
Focus versus format: An American view of South Korea's regional engagement
The United States and South Korea are both shifting their engagement in the Indo‐Pacific, but in fundamentally different ways. In recent years, Washington has altered the format of its engagement in the region—shifting toward an increasingly minilateral approach seen in the Quad and AUKUS arrangements. On the other hand, Seoul has sought primarily to alter the focus of its engagement—shifting from a narrow focus on the Korean Peninsula toward a b…
Political science (7 works) · Business (4 works) · Economics (4 works) · International Development and Aid (4 works) · Law (4 works) · International Relations and Foreign Policy (3 works) · Politics (3 works) · China (2 works) · European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies (2 works) · Fishery (2 works)