United We Stand?: Divide-and-Conquer Politics and the Logic of International Hostility

Argues that leaders sometimes promote international conflicts to keep their own military politically divided.

It has long been assumed that leaders engage in international conflict to unify their followers-what is often called the "rally 'round the flag" hypothesis. Despite its intuitive appeal, however, this hypothesis does not always provide a compelling explanation of the relationship between domestic politics and international conflict. In United We Stand? Aaron Belkin shows that in one ...