Buying peace and security? United States positive economic inducement strategies for reducing regional conflicts and retarding weapons of mass destruction proliferation

Are peace and security simply commodities for sale? While a great deal of International Relations literature is devoted to negative and punitive policy instruments like the use of force and economic sanctions, not enough attention has been given to the role of positive tools. This study identifies the conditions under which positive economic inducement strategies (PEIS) are effective in reducing regional conflicts and stemming weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation. It also examines how such strategies are formulated and implemented.; The dissertation relies on in-depth cases studies based on the focused comparative method. The centerpiece case is US policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict. American attempts to control nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Ukraine are also examined. The study draws on memoirs, media reports, and scholarly material. In addition, several dozen policymaker interviews were conducted.; PEIS alone cannot influence bargaining over security goods. Pure checkbook diplomacy does not work. However, this study demonstrates that PEIS help reduce first-order security threats like regional conflicts and WMD proliferation by reassuring recipients and providing alternative security goods. But to be effective, economic inducements must manifest other positive political and security assurances. With adversarial states, they must also be used together with coercive measures. Integrated strategies are critical to PEIS utility.; Economic inducements also function as diplomatic “follow-through.” They can enable the implementation of agreements and sustain step-by-step negotiating processes. Their value is prospective and on-going, not immediate. Since the end of the Cold War, utility has increased because superpower rivalries no longer corrode the effectiveness of inducements. Closer to home, US domestic politics can both constrain and encourage the use of PEIS, their impact is parabolic.; In terms of the public policy agenda, the dissertation demonstrates that foreign aid for political purposes continues to serve as an effective instrument for projecting American power and achieving critical national security goals.