Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War

by Robert A. Pape

Overview

From Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe.Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801471506
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	04/11/2014
Series:	Cornell Studies in Security Affairs
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	408
Sales rank:	307,063
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert A. Pape is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

1. Why Study Military Coercion?
2., Explaining Military Coercion
3. Coercive Air Power
4. Japan, 1944-1945
5. Korea, 1950-1953
6. Vietnam, 1965-1972
7. Iraq, 1991
8. Germany, 1942-1945
9. Beyond Strategic BombingAppendix: Coding Cases of Coercive Air Power
Index

Editorial Reviews

This excellent work is highly recommended as an antidote to the air power hyperbole so often encountered after the Gulf War.

Non-Offensive Defence and Conversion Newsletter

Robert Pape argues comprehensively and convincingly that in 75 years, strategic bombing of civilians has had no effect on the war aims of their governments.... His contribution is well-grounded in massive scholarship, but its value lies more in the demolishing persistent misconceptions than in the provision of new insights for the future of air-power.

Survival

Bombing to Win is a critically important book.

Naval War College Review

Bombing to Win is a critically important book.

-- "Naval War College Review"

Robert Pape argues comprehensively and convincingly that in 75 years, strategic bombing of civilians has had no effect on the war aims of their governments.... His contribution is well-grounded in massive scholarship, but its value lies more in the demolishing persistent misconceptions than in the provision of new insights for the future of air-power.

-- "Survival"

This excellent work is highly recommended as an antidote to the air power hyperbole so often encountered after the Gulf War.

-- "Non-Offensive Defence and Conversion Newsletter"

From the Publisher

Bombing to Win is a critically important book.

Navel War College Review