Clients, Rivals, and Rogues

Reviews / Votes

'After reading Clients, Rivals, and Rogues, I am convinced that everything I thought I knew about great power intervention in civils wars is flat out wrong. Great powers rarely decide to enter these disputes because of humanitarian concerns. They only rarely do so to check a rival's influence, or even to install 'friendly' governments. Instead, Jenne, Popovic, and Siroky show us that great powers get involved in countries to protect their security hierarchies-it is when they believe a client state is under threat that they will be tempted to throw their resources into another country's dispute. This book is as theoretically creative as it is methodologically sophisticated. No doubt it will become the standard in the study of intervention into civil wars.' Stacie E. Goddard, Betty Freyhof Johnson '44 Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College 'This book is a masterful combination of theory and evidence concerning great power interventions in revolutionary civil wars. The authors creatively weave together role theory and frame analysis to generate their hierarchical intervention theory focusing on four key frames and their behavioral implications. They test their predictions with a novel mixed-methods approach that includes a large-N statistical analysis that provides support for the theory at a general level (and casts doubt on competing explanations), followed by rich, in-depth case studies to flesh out the causal pathways in the key contemporary cases of Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. The overall effect is a compelling analysis of great power interventions with implications for the liberal international order and the current conflict in Ukraine. This is a must read for scholars and policymakers alike.' Cameron G. Thies, Dean and MSU Foundation Professor, Michigan State University 'A thoroughly researched and thoughtful analysis of the motives and means that great powers consider before committing support for third party conflicts. It also addresses many of the misconceptions about why great powers choose to get involved, and the risks, from public opinion to failure, they have to consider. A must read for foreign policy makers, diplomats, and national security professionals.' Michael E. Ennis, (USMC, Ret.) 'Well-organized, well-conceived, well-theorized, well-researched and well-written, this is an excellent book that will make a significant contribution to our understanding of great power politics and of intervention!' Stephen M. Saidemann, Paterson Chair in International Affairs and Director of the Canadian Defence and Security Network, Carleton University