Economic Instruments of Security Policy: Influencing Choices of Leaders

Can policy makers achieve national security goals through economic tools? Can state conflicts be fought out in economic battlefields? How do you stabilize and rebuild a country recently defeated in military combat? Can security aims be accomplished using economic policy tools - tools short of military action? National security questions are fundamentally economic. National governments have at their disposal many economic instruments used for national security such as economic sanctions and foreign aid, international trade, international finance and efforts to attack the sources of funding for international terrorism. This book examines the economic policies at available to a head of state and addresses how best to measure the success of these tools. Detailed case studies throughout the book allow readers to understand the decision-making process and how to craft policies designed to influence specific outcomes. The book surveys policies currently used as well as those that may not be appreciated for their national security application. The first part of the book gives an overview of basic analytical tools. It examines microeconomics applied to international 'actors': autocrats and leaders in democracies. The second part looks at the 'arsenal' of economic tools: sanctions, aid, finance, trade, courts, etc. Case studies are examined to provide a way forward in tackling the war on terrorism.