The Limits of U.S. Military Capability
Lessons from Vietnam and Iraq . By James H. Lebovic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12766827 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert Jervis (0000-0002-1896-6538, Columbia University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1170-1172 |
| Publication date | 2010-11-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Perspectives on Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1537592710002264 |
| OpenAlex | W2126530295 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
Foreign policy difficulties usually produce extensive scholarship. Vietnam led to numerous appraisals and reappraisals, many of which paralleled the protests in being heartfelt and radical. Perhaps because of the lack of a draft, Iraq's protests have been cooler and more muted, and the scholarship has tended to be more analytical and mainstream. James Lebovic's excellent study looks at both cases to drive home the argument that was part of the Vietnam critique: Even if the United States is the most powerful state in the international system, there are sharp limits to what it can accomplish, and its very power creates some of those limits (see William J. Fulbright, The Arrogance of Power , 1966)
Argument (complex analysis · Development economics · Economics · Foreign policy · Mainstream · Physics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Scholarship · Sociology · State (computer science · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · Law · Medicine · Military and Defense Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |