Jason Lyall
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691192444
- eISBN:
- 9780691194158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691192444.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter presents a five-stage empirical strategy. It first details how core variables, including prewar military inequality and battlefield performance, were constructed. Second, the chapter ...
More
This chapter presents a five-stage empirical strategy. It first details how core variables, including prewar military inequality and battlefield performance, were constructed. Second, the chapter provides simple descriptive statistics about the relationship between military inequality and the various measures of battlefield performance. Next, it subjects two different measures of military inequality to a series of statistical tests to examine the strength of this association. Afterward, the chapter uses matching and a two-control group comparison to investigate how shifts from low to high inequality, and from medium to high inequality, affect battlefield performance within a reduced sample of most similar belligerents. Finally, this chapter considers the fate of leading alternative explanations, which receive almost no empirical support within the expanded Project Mars universe.Less
This chapter presents a five-stage empirical strategy. It first details how core variables, including prewar military inequality and battlefield performance, were constructed. Second, the chapter provides simple descriptive statistics about the relationship between military inequality and the various measures of battlefield performance. Next, it subjects two different measures of military inequality to a series of statistical tests to examine the strength of this association. Afterward, the chapter uses matching and a two-control group comparison to investigate how shifts from low to high inequality, and from medium to high inequality, affect battlefield performance within a reduced sample of most similar belligerents. Finally, this chapter considers the fate of leading alternative explanations, which receive almost no empirical support within the expanded Project Mars universe.
Jason Lyall
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691192444
- eISBN:
- 9780691194158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691192444.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This introductory chapter links inequality with battlefield performance. It argues that divided armies are flawed by design—that the greater the level of military inequality—that is, the more these ...
More
This introductory chapter links inequality with battlefield performance. It argues that divided armies are flawed by design—that the greater the level of military inequality—that is, the more these ethnic groups were subjected to prewar discrimination or repression by the state—the worse a belligerent's expected wartime performance. To flesh out this argument, the chapter first defines inequality and introduces a military inequality coefficient, before turning to the specifics of battlefield performance. Though no consensus exists as to measuring military effectiveness, the chapter offers some ways to measure military performance. Next, the chapter turns to the dangers of military inequality and makes a more protracted argument about why inequality matters. Finally, it provides some background into Project Mars and discusses the research design for this study.Less
This introductory chapter links inequality with battlefield performance. It argues that divided armies are flawed by design—that the greater the level of military inequality—that is, the more these ethnic groups were subjected to prewar discrimination or repression by the state—the worse a belligerent's expected wartime performance. To flesh out this argument, the chapter first defines inequality and introduces a military inequality coefficient, before turning to the specifics of battlefield performance. Though no consensus exists as to measuring military effectiveness, the chapter offers some ways to measure military performance. Next, the chapter turns to the dangers of military inequality and makes a more protracted argument about why inequality matters. Finally, it provides some background into Project Mars and discusses the research design for this study.
Jason Lyall
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691192444
- eISBN:
- 9780691194158
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691192444.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
How do armies fight and what makes them victorious on the modern battlefield? This book challenges long-standing answers to this classic question by linking the fate of armies to their levels of ...
More
How do armies fight and what makes them victorious on the modern battlefield? This book challenges long-standing answers to this classic question by linking the fate of armies to their levels of inequality. Introducing the concept of military inequality, the book demonstrates how a state's prewar choices about the citizenship status of ethnic groups within its population determine subsequent battlefield performance. Treating certain ethnic groups as second-class citizens, either by subjecting them to state-sanctioned discrimination or, worse, violence, undermines interethnic trust, fuels grievances, and leads victimized soldiers to subvert military authorities once war begins. The higher an army's inequality, the book finds, the greater its rates of desertion, side-switching, casualties, and use of coercion to force soldiers to fight. The book draws on Project Mars, a new dataset of 250 conventional wars fought since 1800, to test this argument. Project Mars breaks with prior efforts by including overlooked non-Western wars while cataloguing new patterns of inequality and wartime conduct across hundreds of belligerents. The book also marshals evidence from nine wars, ranging from the Eastern Fronts of World Wars I and II to less familiar wars in Africa and Central Asia, to illustrate inequality's effects. Sounding the alarm on the dangers of inequality for battlefield performance, the book offers important lessons about warfare over the past two centuries—and for wars still to come.Less
How do armies fight and what makes them victorious on the modern battlefield? This book challenges long-standing answers to this classic question by linking the fate of armies to their levels of inequality. Introducing the concept of military inequality, the book demonstrates how a state's prewar choices about the citizenship status of ethnic groups within its population determine subsequent battlefield performance. Treating certain ethnic groups as second-class citizens, either by subjecting them to state-sanctioned discrimination or, worse, violence, undermines interethnic trust, fuels grievances, and leads victimized soldiers to subvert military authorities once war begins. The higher an army's inequality, the book finds, the greater its rates of desertion, side-switching, casualties, and use of coercion to force soldiers to fight. The book draws on Project Mars, a new dataset of 250 conventional wars fought since 1800, to test this argument. Project Mars breaks with prior efforts by including overlooked non-Western wars while cataloguing new patterns of inequality and wartime conduct across hundreds of belligerents. The book also marshals evidence from nine wars, ranging from the Eastern Fronts of World Wars I and II to less familiar wars in Africa and Central Asia, to illustrate inequality's effects. Sounding the alarm on the dangers of inequality for battlefield performance, the book offers important lessons about warfare over the past two centuries—and for wars still to come.
