| Despite the seemingly endless potential for Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBMs) given the success in Europe, scholars question how successful CSBMs can be outside Europe as the concept of CSBMs is intricately connected within European events and circumstances. Given this debate, the purpose of this study is to address the applicability of confidence- and security-building measures outside the European context.; In order to address this general issue I analyze two specific research questions: (1) why do some states adopt CSBMs while others, in seemingly similar security environments do not, and (2) why some CSBM agreements are more fully implemented than others are? For the adoption question, I conduct a quantitative comparative case study to assess the influence of several factors. These include: the ethno-linguistic similarity of the dyad; joint security regime membership; the level of economic interdependence of the dyad; the level of democracy of the dyad; the level of tension between the states in the dyad; the expected costs of war for the dyad; and the power dynamics of the dyad. For the implementation question, I examine the influence of the same seven variables as for the first question; however, the analysis focuses solely on Argentina/Brazil and India/Pakistan, the adopting dyads.; The results of this study indicate that the conditions for adoption of bilateral CSBMs include presence of a nuclear thereat and power asymmetry. Furthermore, the conditions for actual implementation of bilateral CSBMs include ethno-linguistic similarity, economic interdependence, low levels of tension, high levels of democracy, in addition to the conditions necessary for initial adoption. This is an important finding in that it illustrates that the conditions for adoption of CSBMs are not equivalent to the conditions of implementation. Thus, I argue that policymakers should exercise caution when advocating CSBMs as a security management approach, and should not advocate CSBMs where the conditions will not foster full implementation. |
